For those with Cruises before May 31

[DIS_MIKE]

I'm around 55ish days and Delta is not refunding my flight as far as I can tell, so as of right now I will be flying into Miami 3 days before my cruise. I guess from there I'll evaluate everything but this virus could be in full force by then. It's looking like I'll be canceling this cruise though. I would say the chances of going on this crusie is now at 10-15%

 

[disneyholic family]

even if i thought the cruise would be ok, i would be worried about traveling to get there.
Airports right now are prime infection zones.

And thinking about it, as the numbers in the US go up, the chances that there will be someone on your ship sick also go up.

but maybe if i only had to get in a car to get there? maybe? but maybe not.
Possibly not.
But possibly.

Did that help? (probably not)

 

[DIS_MIKE]

even if i thought the cruise would be ok, i would be worried about traveling to get there.
Airports right now are prime infection zones.

And thinking about it, as the numbers in the US go up, the chances that there will be someone on your ship sick also go up.

but maybe if i only had to get in a car to get there? maybe? but maybe not.
Possibly not.
But possibly.

Did that help? (probably not)

I've been thinking about that as well....I'll be one of those vacationers who heads down to FL a few days before debarkation and who knows what I'll come in contact with during that time. I agree that airplanes and terminals are really going to be prime infection areas.

I'm just glad that DCL is giving cruisers that 24-hour cancellation window.

 

[Gentry2004]

I've been thinking about that as well....I'll be one of those vacationers who heads down to FL a few days before debarkation and who knows what I'll come in contact with during that time. I agree that airplanes and terminals are really going to be prime infection areas.

I'm just glad that DCL is giving cruisers that 24-hour cancellation window.

Assuming you can get them to answer the phone for you to cancel.

 

[insureman]

So I was all set to cancel/move out our 3/21/20 Fantasy sail date. But now I am having second thoughts and told my TA to hold off. I guess I want to see what happens this week with regards to a plan. It seems like extra precautions are being taken. My husband keeps sending me articles to justify his stance that we shouldn't go but they all reference and advise elderly and immunocompromised don't cruise. Neither of which applies to us or are children. His biggest worry is a quarantine. I get that but the more I think about it I am inclined to think that sure while a possibility...unlikely.

Are people with cruises in the next 1-2 weeks canceling? Are you worried about quarantine? What is your rationale for not canceling that I can use to convince my husband it will still be low risk for us to go.

This whole thing just sucks and is probably overblown to a degree.

I am grateful DCL has given us time to really think about it and see how this plays out.

We just got off the Fantasy yesterday and seems some people myself included were uneasy about not knowing what DCL supplied to customs in the infectious disease report. That's what will quarantine a ship. It's a tough decision to make.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

Assuming you can get them to answer the phone for you to cancel.

Aint that the truth. A week ago I had no problem getting through to DCL but now that COVID-19 has begun to rapidly spread throughout the US....everything has changed and nobody can get through to their travel agents to re-schedule their trips.

I live in a small town in PA and some guy 15 miles away came back from Italy and is now in quarantine because he tested positive for the virus.

 

[soniam]

This month is a hard one. I would hate to be quarantined. At home wouldn't be terrible, because I could work from home. Somewhere else would be bad. My cruise isn't until July, so I'm not worried about it.

 

[Gentry2004]

updated guidance from CDC.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/covid-19-cruise-ship

 

[SL6827]

I applaud Disney for doing the right thing with the 24 hour cancel policy. Good job there.

 

[Gentry2004]

I applaud Disney for doing the right thing with the 24 hour cancel policy. Good job there.

Except they have to get more people answering the phones.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

Except they have to get more people answering the phones.

I thought I replied to your post but for some reason it didn't apply. Getting someone to answer the phone will be my sad reality very shortly. I just called Delta and they told me they would call me back in 4 hours. So let the wait begin. Delta is allowing you to change and alter your itinerary if you booked from March 1st on and of course I am 2 days shy of that date so I'm trying to figure out what sort of penalty I am looking at- I hope to get it waived though.

 

[hnthomps]

We are on the Fantasy 3/21. So far we are planning to go, partly because there's no other time we could cruise within 12 months (not without changing some other long-planned /milestone things), so the rebook offer is useless. We have two days at WDW planned up front. If DCL cancels us, we'll see if we can hang out at WDW for a few extra days. But we won't cancel ourselves (unless someone gets sick).

But - we are low risk, don't take any medications, and our kids are young enough that missing school for a quarantine wouldn't be disastrous. We both can work remotely to some extent (and I have a ton of accrued vacation). We will pack our laptops. I really really don't want to be quarantined, but I can't control that! We also couldn't easily just do a different vacation without getting this 8 night cruise refunded. It's our kids' spring break week, so the option is risk it with the cruise, or stay home with no child care for almost two weeks (the break starts Wednesday).

 

[stowe75]

If I were in your shoes, I would go. DCL has a much younger and healthier demographic than Princess and Carnival, so that reduces the risk in one way. Second, this is a cruise off the east coast of the USA, not Europe, Asia or west coast. Third, DCL has some of the highest sanitation ratings in the cruise industry, well above Princess and Carnival. Fourth, although cases are rapidly multiplying in the US, the objective numbers are still very small. So I'd personally go and not worry. But I'm not the nervous type by nature. I totally understand that others would not feel comfortable going.

I am like you. I feel like my husband is the one all up in arms and starting to cause me to make irrational decisions! He says if we go he will be nervous the entire time that the Captain is going to come on and tell everyone to get to their rooms and stay put!

 

[stowe75]

This virus is not going to go away. What will happen is that as people start spending more time outdoors and in less close quarters, infections should start to slow. Also, our scientists will develop vaccines and treatments.

Doesn't help me today; we're 8 days out. We're still planning on going, but suspect we won't be on board. The situation is evolving, but rescheduling isn't a good option for us. We picked this cruise specifically 18 months ago because it fit our schedule. We aren't terribly interested in the summer (and who knows if we're going to be clear by then). Fall break doesn't have a cruise that fits our school's break. Christmas might work, but it'll cost and we don't really want to interrupt family plans. And next year's spring break is in April, which is more than 12 months out.

Plus, we have other non-refundable parts of this trip; the cruise is just under half of the expense. So I've got other things to figure out. We have travel insurance, but not cancel-for-any-reason insurance. But if Disney is forced to pull the plug, I suspect we'll be covered then. So for now, I feel like I'm playing a game of chicken, expecting the government, cruises, parks and airlines to blink before I do.

What I don't expect to happen is the worst case scenario of quarantinining thousands of passengers for two weeks for much longer. That's a solution that isn't going to be scalable much longer. They might do it for one more cruise, but after that, the cruise lines will be forced to cancel en masse. And if we get cancellations, insurance will kick in and everything will work out financially.

I think that is why I want to wait it out another week. See what happens with ships as the week goes on.....

 

[SL6827]

Except they have to get more people answering the phones.

Ya, I bet demand is over the roof now.

 

[jdg345]

Is anyone here old enough to remember H1N1 and the way that played out? Millions infected and over a thousand fatalities before any sort of emergency response was put into action, no?

I don't remember cruises, concerts, festivals, etc. being cancelled. What is so different about CV19/Covid19 that it is generating this sort of response?

 

[lorimay]

Not cancelling our 12 night Transatlantic cruise in May at this point, but we have decided to cancel the 5 days we were going to spend in Rome after the cruise.
Have to call the airlines in the morning and see what's what with charging the flights now.

 

[lorimay]

Is anyone here old enough to remember H1N1 and the way that played out? Millions infected and over a thousand fatalities before any sort of emergency response was put into action, no?

I don't remember cruises, concerts, festivals, etc. being cancelled. What is so different about CV19/Covid19 that it is generating this sort of response?

Oh yes, my daughter was pregnant and got sick, they put her right into the hospital, luckily she didn't have it.
I have no memories of cancellation of so many events either.

 

[disneylove69]

We get on board in 6 days (Saturday). We are still going. Nothing short of Disney canceling would stop us at this point. We are a young healthy family though and if a quarantine did happen we could work remotely for a few weeks. We will take our work computers hide them in the luggage so we aren't tempted to work while out at sea and enjoy our time.

I am doing the same. 14 days having food delivered and watching Disney movies sound bliss to me.

 

[disneylove69]

Is anyone here old enough to remember H1N1 and the way that played out? Millions infected and over a thousand fatalities before any sort of emergency response was put into action, no?

I don't remember cruises, concerts, festivals, etc. being cancelled. What is so different about CV19/Covid19 that it is generating this sort of response?

I saw a post showing every election year it is some virus that is going to take the world to its knees.