What do you think will happen to US cruises if Coronavirus spreads?

[Gentry2004]

I have a cruise in April, and I’m comfortable going under the current conditions but worry about the disease becoming widespread in the US. What do you think cruise lines will do if that happens?

 

[stowe75]

And now a cruise ship that docked in New Jersey this morning is under quarantine. It didn’t seem as concerning when it was cruise ships half way around the world. We cruise in just 6 weeks. Hopefully this gets under control.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Add me to the list of "mildly concerned" at this point. We are cruising NCL over spring break (Easter week). Leaving out of Miami and heading to the Caribbean. Really hoping this gets under control soon.

 

[Trera]

Glad our cruise is this week as it hasnt seemed to hit Florida and the Disney Cruises as of yet.

We are worried it will get worse before it gets better.

 

[MarkLT1]

Add me to the concerned list. Sailing on April 4th. My biggest concern however is not cancellation, as we can always book another cruise (yes, it would be disappointing). My primary concern is that my 85-year-old father is going with us. He is very healthy, active, etc.. but it sounds like Coronavirus is much more concerning for older folks, and the risk to my dad's health is of top priority for us. At the same time, I do have a pretty high level of trust in Disney, DCL, etc (we are DVC members, do the parks a lot, etc.), and, perhaps naively think Disney would 'do the right thing' and cancel cruises if there is a significant risk to passengers. I also less naively know that their lawyers will be all over this, and the potential liability of putting passengers at risk will help to manage things as well. Shrug.. it is just over 8 weeks until our sail away date, so I just need to be patient and realize this currently is 100% out of my control.

 

[Calantha]

I'm not cruising until September (so hopefully that's okay), but we are going to South Africa for 2 weeks at the end of March, so I am on the concerned list too.

 

[DisneYE]

Add me to the list of "mildly concerned" at this point. We are cruising NCL over spring break (Easter week). Leaving out of Miami and heading to the Caribbean. Really hoping this gets under control soon.

Same. Sailing in less than 4 weeks.
When that NJ cruise was quarantined today I immediately thought 'oh oh, this isn't good'
DCL is known for being over-cautious so it wouldn't surprise me that if there are a couple of more cases like this NJ one they will start studying alternatives (i.e: canceling, delays etc)

I also hope this virus starts to die down a litlle bit in the next few days.
It seems the fatalities are under control and ppl getting cured are on the rise.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I also hope this virus starts to die down a litlle bit in the next few days.
It seems the fatalities are under control and ppl getting cured are on the rise.

We're sailing in April, but with Princess. I'm mildly concerned now, but will be watching closely and hoping that the spread is brought under control soon.

I don't think we can trust the numbers coming from China. Unfortunately, the real test of how deadly this is will be how patients in countries outside of China fare. And the numbers of infected outside of China are likely to increase significantly in the next couple weeks. The biggest problems with it's spread are the long incubation period and the fact that it can be spread before showing symptoms. That's going to make containment of the virus very difficult.

 

[DLgal]

We're sailing in April, but with Princess. I'm mildly concerned now, but will be watching closely and hoping that the spread is brought under control soon.

I don't think we can trust the numbers coming from China. Unfortunately, the real test of how deadly this is will be how patients in countries outside of China fare. And the numbers of infected outside of China are likely to increase significantly in the next couple weeks. The biggest problems with it's spread are the long incubation period and the fact that it can be spread before showing symptoms. That's going to make containment of the virus very difficult.

They are now questioning the "it can spread before showing symptoms" talking point.

Apparently, that all started because a woman who ended up infected had a 10 year old son who came down with it and she claimed she had no symptoms in the time she had contact with him. However, in later questioning she admitted to having "mild non specific respiratory symptoms."

Since that report was based on just HER case, they have now retracted that claim.

 

[Mommb]

The cruise ship in New Jersey on which passengers are being evaluated (not quarantined) departed before the cruise lines started checking before embarkation about possible visits to China and exposure to infected patients.

Any cruises leaving now are checking passengers before they board. Will that screening catch everyone who might have coronavirus? Of course not, just as it won't catch all passengers with influenza, pneumonia, and other illnesses that could manifest while on board. However, the odds of someone contracting coronavirus and then (while still contagious) getting on a cruise ship leaving from the east coast of the US in the next few months are slim.

 

[randumb0]

I thought you guys were wondering if there would be a reduction in the price of cruises

 

[Dug720]

The ship in Bayonne is NOT quarantined.

It was 27 passengers - 23 of which have been cleared. 4 are being evaluated at a hospital.

Other passengers were screened as they disembarked.

BIG difference between that and the ship off Japan.

https://abc7ny.com/health/coronavirus-concern-4-from-nj-cruise-ship-being-evaluated/5910246/

 

[mab2012]

I am not at all concerned about actually contracting the virus.

I am starting to get just a tiny bit concerned over the possibility that our cruise could be disrupted in some way. We sail on March 6.

Having said that, cancelling cruises would be phenomenally expensive for the cruise lines. They will take precautions, but they're not going to start outright cancelling unless they absolutely have to (such as, for example, an actual outbreak and quarantine order on an earlier cruise).

 

[kdogfister]

They are now questioning the "it can spread before showing symptoms" talking point.

Apparently, that all started because a woman who ended up infected had a 10 year old son who came down with it and she claimed she had no symptoms in the time she had contact with him. However, in later questioning she admitted to having "mild non specific respiratory symptoms."

Since that report was based on just HER case, they have now retracted that claim.

Additionally, previous novel coronavirus strains showed no signs of transmission prior to the infected showing signs of symptoms. While it wouldn't be impossible for this one and we still know very little about viral loads and exposure thresholds (especially early on in the infection), there are no verified reports as DLgal states.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

They are now questioning the "it can spread before showing symptoms" talking point.

Apparently, that all started because a woman who ended up infected had a 10 year old son who came down with it and she claimed she had no symptoms in the time she had contact with him. However, in later questioning she admitted to having "mild non specific respiratory symptoms."

Since that report was based on just HER case, they have now retracted that claim.

That's good to know. I hadn't read they were questioning that yet. I'd heard the man who brought the virus onto the Princess ship was already showing symptoms when he embarked.

 

[kj2mom]

I believe the first port of call for the Anthem, providing they continue as scheduled, is Port Canaveral. The fact that it goes directly to a Disney home port makes me a little nervous. Just hope for the best I guess (and hope everyone is honest about any potential symptoms)!

ETA: Just saw they are staying in port for an extra day for deep cleaning.

 

[blabadie]

Is the ship actually quarantined? I seemed to understand that they were doing some health screenings due to passengers that had traveled to China (not Hubei) prior to cruise line reservations and that most passengers had disembarked. Regardless, it is a stressful situation. I think the new cruise passenger restrictions will help a lot, but I have some concerns that cases will still slip through here or there as the coronavirus spreads outside China.

That being said, I am cruising in early May on a Bahamian cruise and am not particularly concerned. What I AM concerned about is a planned mid-March family vacation to Thailand (not to Bangkok or involving population intensive activities, but still worrying). That one we may end up canceling but haven't decided for sure.

 

[spiders]

The ship in NY sailed before the travel restrictions went into effect. They are only testing out of caution since some people had been to China before sailing.

I am no more concerned about sailing this month than I am going to work, the airport and the flight.

 

[Adventurelawyer]

As a person who used to do table top exercises involving pandemic influenza for a government agency, you do not want your question answered be

I believe the first port of call for the Anthem, providing they continue as scheduled, is Port Canaveral. The fact that it goes directly to a Disney home port makes me a little nervous. Just hope for the best I guess (and hope everyone is honest about any potential symptoms)!

ETA: Just saw they are staying in port for an extra day for deep cleaning.

that ship is being fumigated and scrubbed right now.

 

[cvjw]

We cruise on the fantasy in May and we are concerned. Finding out that 60+ people were infected on the cruise ship in Asia from 1 person is very scary to us. We also think that the Chinese government is hiding the true magnitude of this virus.