anyone else cruising soon on edge due to recent news?

[Lisa F]

There is already a thread going to discuss all of the specific news as it unfolds and speculate about what it all means, that's not why I'm posting.

There was recently a release of donald bags at the Coach Store in disney springs - I called day of and they were out of them but I put my name on a waitlist for a wallet and I got a phone call this morning that it's in.

I saw the 407 number and my heart dropped thinking it was bad news about the cruise. It was just good news about my wallet.

Logically I am completely rational but I am still edgy about any news related to cruising right now.

Anyone else feeling anxious/edgy and want to vent about it? I'm leaving on the Fantasy a week from Saturday, with passports and with flu shots and have been hammering my kid about hand washing and planning to bring work laptop and electronics for the kid in case of an absolute worst case nightmare scenario. I still hope to get no more area code 407 phone calls!

 

[Agshipp]

We are also leaving next week on the Fantasy, I am honestly not worried. Getting a lot of input from others which has been rather negative but ignoring those type comments and focusing on the excitement of the trip!

 

[Lisa F]

We are also leaving next week on the Fantasy, I am honestly not worried. Getting a lot of input from others which has been rather negative but ignoring those type comments and focusing on the excitement of the trip!

you don't have a tween boy do you? lol

 

[MarkLT1]

We're cruising at the beginning of April. As I mentioned in the other thread, if things stay as they are now in the US, I wont be too concerned. If we start to see significant spread of the virus over the next couple of weeks (proportionally similar to the last month in China) , I wouldn't be surprised if cruises start to be cancelled. But in that case, I wouldn't want to go anyway. I am hopeful that this wont be the case.

My primary concern is not for "do we get to cruise or not," it is that we are going with my parents, including my 85-year-old father, who finished lymphoma treatment a little less than a year ago. He was a smoker for much of his life (quit about 30 years ago), and had a pretty big scare with Pneumonia about 4 years ago. So the thought of what looks to be a virulent respiratory bug does make me nervous. Again, this will only be a concern if we are seeing tens of thousands of cases in the US come April.

Edit to clarify: My father is currently quite healthy, strong, etc.. most people are shocked to find out he is in his 80s. It is just his health issues in the past that worry me in this case.

 

[Agshipp]

you don't have a tween boy do you? lol

A 6 year old girl and 15 year old boy

 

[Agshipp]

This is only our 2nd Disney cruise but our first experience was amazing, we also traveled in February at the height of flu season and everything was perfectly fine. I was very impressed by the cleanliness of the ship and I saw cleaning always taking in the restrooms, etc.

 

[T & R]

Anyone else feeling anxious/edgy

No. It will be fine. We'll be onboard in 26 days.

I have more anxiety about the flight than I do recent media reported events. I've been watching that show "Air Disasters" on the Smithsonian Channel. I got to quit watching this show before we fly. It's like watching the movie Jaws right before your trip to the beach. I know I shouldn't watch it but I catch the first few minutes and then get hooked into to the whole show. usually comes down to some $3 dollar part that failed.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

I'm fine with the cruise being cancelled, I just don't want to be quarantined on the boat, floating around from Port to Port looking for someone who will take us.

 

[Lisa F]

I'm fine with the cruise being cancelled, I just don't want to be quarantined on the boat, floating around from Port to Port looking for someone who will take us.

if you are doing a closed loop US cruise that won't happen - that is only happening in Asia where countries are trying to stop the spread in their own countries.

Who knows about a quarantine but US ports are not going to refuse to allow the ship that just left from them reentry.

 

[Lisa F]

We're cruising at the beginning of April. As I mentioned in the other thread, if things stay as they are now in the US, I wont be too concerned. If we start to see significant spread of the virus over the next couple of weeks (proportionally similar to the last month in China) , I wouldn't be surprised if cruises start to be cancelled. But in that case, I wouldn't want to go anyway. I am hopeful that this wont be the case.

My primary concern is not for "do we get to cruise or not," it is that we are going with my parents, including my 85-year-old father, who finished lymphoma treatment a little less than a year ago. He was a smoker for much of his life (quit about 30 years ago), and had a pretty big scare with Pneumonia about 4 years ago. So the thought of what looks to be a virulent respiratory bug does make me nervous. Again, this will only be a concern if we are seeing tens of thousands of cases in the US come April.

Edit to clarify: My father is currently quite healthy, strong, etc.. most people are shocked to find out he is in his 80s. It is just his health issues in the past that worry me in this case.

Yes in some ways we're lucky our vacation is now because right here in the US it's not much of an issue, who knows in a couple of months?

Was it you (I am losing track of people) who said someone speculated that the pollution/air quality in china was at least partially responsible for many more cases turning to pneumonia there? in either case anyone with your dad's medical history is more of a concern for any respiratory thing. I am traveling with my 11 year old and as of right now the new virus doesn't seem to be affecting under 15 very much at all - he is of concern to me not only because he is my baby and I'm a mom but because his handwashing skills are not the greatest and he is as tall as I am, so dragging him into the ladies room to supervise is not going to happen.

I'm more worried about flu (we've both had our flu shots though) and also people in general going off the deep end with everyone being at a heightened anxiety level. Logically I understand what the risks are but the people being nuts factor is in there too

 

[Lisa F]

No. It will be fine. We'll be onboard in 26 days.

I have more anxiety about the flight than I do recent media reported events. I've been watching that show "Air Disasters" on the Smithsonian Channel. I got to quit watching this show before we fly. It's like watching the movie Jaws right before your trip to the beach. I know I shouldn't watch it but I catch the first few minutes and then get hooked into to the whole show. usually comes down to some $3 dollar part that failed.

omg yes stop watching that!

We live on Martha's Vineyard and outbreaks of stuff tend to not be horrible here anyway because we don't mix with as many people but I always make sure I have a flu vaccine if I'm planning to go through an airport in the winter. I am much more vigilant about hand washing there than anywhere else.

 

[MarkLT1]

Was it you (I am losing track of people) who said someone speculated that the pollution/air quality in china was at least partially responsible for many more cases turning to pneumonia there? in either case anyone with your dad's medical history is more of a concern for any respiratory thing.

Yes.. a friend of mine from grad school who is in the epidemiology field, was speculating about that.. though keep in mind, it was pure speculation with no evidence to back it up.. more of an.. interesting thought. And yes, with my dad's health history, respiratory illnesses are a huge concern (that being said, he's always up to date on his flu shot, as well as the pneumonia vaccine.. not that either of these would particularly help in a coronavirus outbreak).

 

[2Gma]

Not Cruising, but leaving for Hawaii in March and traveling through 3 international airports with long flights does concern me. I've already told the kids our Spring Break trip may not happen if the virus continues to spread. While its disappointing, and frustrating losing $$$, risking our lives isn't worth it.

We bought trip insurance although the policy doesn't include coverage for epidemics so we're at risk of losing a bunch of money. The policy covers all the things we thought we'd need, obviously never considered COVID19 could happen. A friend of ours had a family trip planned to Japan for next week and they cancelled, airline gave them travel vouchers to use within six months.

We're in the watch and see what happens phase, which is making me anxious. For a trip of a lifetime, I should be excited, and I'm not. Then I feel guilty that I am concerned over a lost vacation while thousands of lives are literally hanging in the balance.

 

[hnthomps]

We have a WDW/DCL land and sea trip planned in March, and are vaguely worried on the edges. Less that we would get sick and more that it will be cancelled or disrupted. I am sure between Disney and our insurance, we would recover much of the cost of the cruise, but even so. We plan to just keep on keeping on, unless the situation changes. We're flying several times between now and then, so I'm obviously not particularly worried about air travel (or, not any more than usual), but just the sheer volume of humans in the parks and on the ships feels riskier.

All that said, I took a cruise at the height of the SARS epidemic - I was in college, and my friend and I saw how cheap things were, and just went for it at the last minute. I think it was $500 for a 5 night Caribbean cruise (not on DCL)? It was SO cheap because no one wanted to travel. I know it's irrelevant to this experience, but it plays in the back of my mind as a symbol that it can all be fine, even when people are panicking.

 

[AquaDame]

As I said on the other few threads opened about the virus: while I do not want to squelch conversation about fears on the virus at all, we should keep it to one thread as it is at its core the same topic. Please join the other thread if you wish to discuss it.