Coronavirus and DCL Megathread - Suspension of Departures for the fleet until early November. Booking only available from early December.

[Gentry2004]

So they announced 2 people have tested positive here in Tampa, FL. Only a matter of time before this happens in other parts of Florida (i.e. Port Canaveral, Miami). If soccer matches are being played in empty stadiums in Italy, other countries are banning venues with large crowds, and the USA is restricting travel to countries with the virus; at what point are these domestic ports shut down (Port Canaveral and Miami) due to virus activity in those cities and cruises cannot even sail out? And seems like any port you travel to on an itinerary will have virus activity. Do all cruises come to halt?

Great questions. ie: if Seattle were a busy cruise port right now, would the cruise lines be cool with everyone just hopping on board?

 

[Kennywood]

Both ships and planes are means of international travel. Both would have to be shut down or else it would do no good. I don't see ALL international air travel being shut down, so I can't see ALL cruises being cancelled.

 

[randumb0]

Like @Kennywood said you'd have to shutdown the entire port and ground all planes including MCO and I don't see that happening.

 

[KevinFL]

But airplanes do not carry 3000+ passengers for extended periods of time (3 to 7+ days) like cruise ships do. Very different.

I read an article that said prisons and cruise ships are ideal breading grounds for this virus to be easily transmitted. If governments stick with the response of travel and crowd size restrictions then I cannot see how cruise lines can continue to operate the further that this clearly passes the containment phase and spreads globally.

 

[mom2brooke76]

A Carnival ship that left yesterday from FL was supposed to go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica, but Jamaica and GC won’t let them dock so they’re doing Cozumel, Belize and Key West instead. This is from a page and the mom’s kids are on the ship. No report of anyone being sick, rather these areas are turning away ships. Should be interesting to see what the future holds.

 

[Kennywood]

Using this and this as sources, international airline visitors to the US was 6.4 times greater than all of the cruise passengers for 2016 (the latest comparative date I could find).

There are by far many more people flying than taking cruise ships. Cruise ships have the luxury of an open-air environment. Airplanes obviously cannot.

I have to believe that the air in a confined space like an airplane is much more likely to cultivate illnesses than a cruise ship.

International ports have to make the best decisions they can, when it comes to whether or not ships can make port. But I wonder how long that will last when the lost of tourism money starts to dry up.

 

[MarkLT1]

I have to believe that the air in a confined space like an airplane is much more likely to cultivate illnesses than a cruise ship.

I think the two issues you run into with cruise ships-

1. Length of time. You essentially have 3000-5000 people, in relatively close quarters, for several days. Those people are mobile, interacting with each other, and interacting with the various surfaces a virus could end up on. On an airplane, you have a higher likelihood of catching whatever the few people around you have, but on a cruise ship, since there is much more interaction, you end up having many more interactions with many more people.
2. Related to length of time, Cruise ships become a direct correlation to getting sick. If you caught a bug that has a 2-4 day incubation period while you were on a plane, you have no idea you even got it from someone on the plane. It may have come from a person on the plane, the taxi cab to the plane, the hotel you stayed in, the theme park you were in, etc.. the list goes on and on. For a cruise ship, if you get onboard, and get sick 5 days later with a 2-4 day incubation period bug, there is a high likelihood that you got it on the ship itself. This makes cruise ships an easy location to point a finger at so-to-speak.

 

[Gentry2004]

A Carnival ship that left yesterday from FL was supposed to go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica, but Jamaica and GC won’t let them dock so they’re doing Cozumel, Belize and Key West instead. This is from a page and the mom’s kids are on the ship. No report of anyone being sick, rather these areas are turning away ships. Should be interesting to see what the future holds.

Well after this and the MSC, it looks like GC and Jamaica are just closed to cruise traffic until futher notice. Take heed Western Caribbean travelers!

 

[tankin]

If you wonder why some are buying into the media lead hype, here's some stats from the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm). In the US alone this flu season there have been between 18,000 - 46,000 flu related deaths which would be about 6 to 15 times the number of worldwide deaths due to corona. The per capita infection rates for corona in China - 0.0056% (80026 cases / pop of 1.437 B), in South Korea - 0.0085% (4335 case / pop of 51.27 M). The per capia infection rate for the flu in the US - 4.23% best case (14M/331M). That's orders of magnitude higher than corona.

I'm not saying don't be concerned but make sure that you are taking the time to understand the risk before you panic....

FYI ... I'm on the Magic in about two months. Plan on enjoying my cruise unless something changes.

 

[wilafur]

We sail on 3/25 and are keeping an eye on how things shake out!

 

[xiphoid76]

This doesn’t mean too much right now, but does come after some cases discovered in Florida. There are now health emergencies declared in parts of California and Washington state as well. If more cases keep coming I could see them shutting down the cruises for a few weeks. Hopefully this will all get under control very soon!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehil...lic-health-emergency-after-state-gets-its?amp

 

[mmouse37]

Travel Industry is not going to like that....I am sure it will scare off many visitors to Florida. I think it is only a matter of time before the cruises are affected.

MJ

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

If cases in Florida spike they may have to shut down WDW the same way they did in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Japan.

 

[plethera1]

I was talking to my wife about this last night. If they at some point shut down WDW and the cruises, it seems figuring out when they open back up would be extremely difficult. Disney would stand to lose a ton of money.

Hoping we don't have any spikes so we can make our cruise on the 14th of this month.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We're not cruising until October, and our only port is Bermuda, so if they stop taking admitting cruise ships (which, in my opinion, they probably should to protect their own population) we'll just cancel it. I would definitely not be getting on any cruise that was departing in the next few months, because this virus hasn't spiked in the U.S. yet. (And no, not because I'm panicking/buying into media hype but because I don't want to get stuck on a cruise ship for weeks if it's quarantined).

 

[allashore]

A Carnival ship that left yesterday from FL was supposed to go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica, but Jamaica and GC won’t let them dock so they’re doing Cozumel, Belize and Key West instead. This is from a page and the mom’s kids are on the ship. No report of anyone being sick, rather these areas are turning away ships. Should be interesting to see what the future holds.

Interesting Magic is supposed to be at Grand Cayman today and the Fantasy is scheduled for tomorrow

 

[MarkLT1]

Interesting Magic is supposed to be at Grand Cayman today and the Fantasy is scheduled for tomorrow

I guess we'll see if GC is just looking for an excuse to keep those rowdy Carnival cruisers out..

 

[pjsmith67]

So we have an upcoming WBPC cruise for this Friday.
Finishing details with packing etc and couldn't help being invaded by a feeling of depression packing masks, hand sanitizers, extra medicines... it's eerie.
While we're upbeat about the coming cruise I'm still very uneasy about being away for 14 days in the middle of the ocean...
My biggest worry is if things spiral out of control with the CV in those 2 weeks and there are travel restrictions for flying back home and/or seeing ppl in full panic mode & mobbing the stores. I know its unlikely but even at 10% chance of that happening, that's still very high.
Not gonna lie: I'm nervous & it's not going to be a usual cruise where its supposed to be relaxing and fun.

We are doing this cruise as well and are not worried at all. Cannot live in our fears. It is what it is. Relax and enjoy the cruise.

That being said, I did just purchase a one time travel medical insurance policy. But that makes sense regardless.

 

[pjsmith67]

I guess we'll see if GC is just looking for an excuse to keep those rowdy Carnival cruisers out..

If you look up the Magic's current location, it shows it at GC. Must be the rowdy Carnival cruisers.

 

[o&smom]

We are doing this cruise as well and are not worried at all. Cannot live in our fears. It is what it is. Relax and enjoy the cruise.

That being said, I did just purchase a one time travel medical insurance policy. But that makes sense regardless.

See you on the cruise!