South Africa and Ebola

We are booked to go on our first cruise, from Tenerife (we are lucky to live here) with Fred Olsen on the Braemar, in December, visiting the Canary Isles, South Africa and Cape Verde.

As there is a huge epedemic of Ebola in South Africa at the moment, I was hoping to ask Nathan Philpott whether he thinks we may be diverted elsewhere??

This is only so I can maybe do some research in to any alternatives,....if there will be any.

Many thanks.

I hope I have done this alright, as it is my first ever post.

Hi. I am unaware of a case of ebola in South Africa? Where did you read or hear about an outbreak in South Africa. There certainly is an outbreak in west Africa.

Oh sorry Mrs/Mr hopton1984/cool cruiser (or what do I actually call you?? I am totally nieve to this forum stuff)

Thanks for that, it is in West Africa. We are due to visit Dakar and The Gambia in December, which is not reading well at the moment. Seemingly I am new to the graphics of Africa too.

By the way, I read it on a site called 'Shots'

Thank you for correcting me anyway

Hi Phogan,

Welcome to cruise critic and the wonderful world of cruising. You did very well for your first post.

I can't help with your Ebola question but I may be able to help to give you a flavour of the cruise. We did a similar cruise last February and I posted an extensive review. You will find it if you go to page 2 of this forum (look at the top of this page and there is a small bar on the right hand side where you can click onto different pages) and scroll down to about half way. I try to include practical information in my reviews for both the ship and the ports of call.

Have a wonderful time.

SR

Thank you so much soccerref (I presume that you are a ref then?) for your few kind words. I shall take a look for page 2 and at your review. The site is taking some negotiating, but I am sure that I will get there.

Coincidentally, in this mornings news, it is stated that the Ebola outbreak should be declared a state of emergency. I suppose that the cruise liners will stay clear of these ports if the situation is that dangerous.

Thank you once again.

Hi again Phogan,

Generally speaking, cruise lines will try to keep to their intended itinerary unless there are circumstances that endanger passengers and crew. If it becomes necessary to miss a port it in not always possible to go to an alternative so you often get an extra sea day. If that happens then you should get your 'port tax' refunded.......usually around £20pp.

As for my user name......once, in another time, before the arthritis took hold, I did qualify as a football referee but only so I understood the 'laws if the game' because both my husband and son were active referees so if you can' treat them, you join them!!

Happy cruising.

Welcome to Cruise Critic Paula :) You have chosen a great ship for your first cruise and I'm sure you will be hooked like the rest of us on here ;)

I can't help either with the Ebola issue :o We did the other cruise (Canaries,Morocco and Madeira) in February to celebrate my birthday and had a fabulous time.

To Linda and everyone,

Thanks to all, you all seem so friendly on this site.

As I said, it is the first time that I have really used a 'forum type' thing, so please all bear with me.

Linda, it is the Canaries,, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, Funchal, La Palma, Senegal Banjul and Capee Verde Isles , we are going on.

We weren't too bothered about the Africa side of the cruise, but as it is someones special birthday...not mine obviously.:o I really am not THAT old Ahem!! We had to cover the birthday date, even if we return to Santa Cruz on the said day. (do you think Fred will let us stay on for a while longer, given the event?? Out of the room of course??)

Many thanks for the valuable information however, and I am sure that someone will keep us up to speed with vaccination/ change of itinary information, anyway.

Sorry it is an awfully long post too, you can wake up now!!

Thank you for the information soccerref.

I hope that the Arthritis does not delibitate you too much.

The review was ever so helpful thanks, especaially the trips ashore. My hubby is not over mobile neither. Nor is he keen on water, but we are going and that is it. Ha ha.

BTW, I work in a bar over here and we show football every time that there is a game on. I still haven't a clue about 'the offside rule'. So well done you!

Hi again Paula :)

It's a shame you are not actually on for the whole of the actual birthday as you would be serenaded at dinner and given a cake :)

This was my birthday in February

We had to cover the birthday date, even if we return to Santa Cruz on the said day. (do you think Fred will let us stay on for a while longer, given the event?? Out of the room of course??)

Nobody is going to hunt you down and throw you off the ship while the disembarkation process is still going on, but you won't really want to hang around anyway as the public areas will be full of people with bags and normal facilities will mostly be shut down after breakfast.

We are also booked on this cruise as a part of a back to back and had been wondering if there will be any problems, so I had been meaning to look it up for some time.

I always find that if an alarming news report comes out, it is best to go to reliable sources. It appears that according to WHO the countries affected are Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. These are all many miles away from the ports of Banjul and Dakar. Guinea does have a border with Senegal, but the coutry is massive and it is a long way from Dakar - it is easy to forget just how big Africa is compared to the small UK. See link below for WHO.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2014/ebola-response/en/

My other thought was to got to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office site to see if any travel restrictions had been put in place for the affected countries - there are none. There is a precautionary warning and advice about Ebola on the entries for the countries affected, with other links leading to further info. See link below.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

I keep that link on Favorites and find it very useful, to keep an eye on regarding any travel restrictions or advice.

Ebola is transmitted by animals or body fluids, so it is not that easy to pick up as a tourist in areas where some hygeine is practised. I would suggest your much greater risk would be to contract aids which is present in a fairly high proportion in many African countries.

My normal surprise on these forums is of people who do not want to take the health precautions advised for some coutries - even regarding anti malarials. In fact Fred were saying last year that it was not neccesary to have a yellow fever certificate for their West African cruises, which is normally required by Gambia and Senegal, if travelling from a country where yellow fever is endemic. They seem to have got some way of getting the port in the second West African country visited to waive the requirement for a yellow fever certificate - possibly because, as their ship called on consecutive days, there would be no chance of an individual transmitting the disease, even if they had been infected with the virus the previous day.

We have had our yellow fever jabs renewed and will be taking anti malarials. Admittedly there is a low risk we would become infected, but we do not want to take that risk and our insurance company, (and I suspect most insurance companies), have a reqirement to have the recomended jabs/medication, so we would not be covered if we are ill with those diseases whilst away.

My doctor's surgery always tell us to look up the recomended health requirements in one of the websites below, then make an appointment with a nurse if it is needed. There was a shortage of yellow fever vacine earlier this year so we had to find another vaccine centre. Of course, health requirements can change and I keep the links below on favorites to check current requirements when I need to do so.

http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk/home.aspx

http://www.nathnac.org/travel/index.htm

Sorry about the science lecture, I am a biologist. You may find the links useful though to keep an eye on any further developments.

Cheers and I wish you an anxiety free holiday.

This is really helpful Tring. I'm not on this cruise, but am off to South America on the Black Watch in January, and Fred has recommended yellow fever vaccination and anti malarial medication. I will check these websites nearer the time for up to date information. :)

Thank you Tring for this interesting and very informative post.

I will certainly go and see about getting some anti malarial medication and I shall ask about the yellow fever (my dad died very young, of a result of catching the yellow fever whilst he was in the RAF, so that should be a priority for me).

I don't really know what the availability is for drugs like over here. The Canarians are sometimes living a couple of decades behind, in some aspects.

Thank you once again.

Also thanks to cruisin Linda and Mark T for their comments. I wonder whether I could change my birthday to the 15th then, just for this year.:D

And I have managed to remove my 'countdown clock' saying that I have already travelled with AidAura or someone similar somebody.

Gosh, how niave am I to this game??

Ho Hum, you live and learn I suppose

There is now a patient with Ebola in a Dakar hospital. Mmmmmm......... it certainly sounds more infectious than aids, but I for one, will be keeping an eye on the websites I mentioned earlier on this thread for reliable information.

We are booked on Braemar from 23rd Nov to 16th Dec for two cruises back to back.

Oh my giddy Aunt. I have just typed out this massive message to Tring...What have I done to make it disappear?

Round two.

Thanks for the info Tring. What a coincidence, (And another coincidence to follow) as I was looking on the You.Gov site, just today and they didn't even mention West Africa. I have signed up for the news feed though. However, I cannot see it, (the disease) being eradicated for at least a couple of years. We are however, going to have all the meds that are deemed suitable.

Another worrying aspect is, is that we actually live in Tenerife, and we receive a lot of immigrants in their little 'Kayaks', which have to be destroyed, due to disease anyway. Quite a frightening thought. (people fleeing the problem in their country and bringing it here??)

The other coincidence is, that we will be joining you, on the second leg of your cruise. We are picking up (correct terminology???, we are new to this game.. a 50th on the 16th..for someone...ahem!!) on the 2nd December, in Santa Cruz. No doubt we shall be acquainted after a week or so.

Thanks for all your useful information. It is lovely that you share all your information with everyone.

Just to say, that it is the Kayaks that have to be destroyed....not the immigrants!

It came on the BBC main headline text yesterday afternoon saying there was a case in Senegal. I googled to find out where, as it is a very big country, and the Guardian website said a student has walked into a hospital on Dakar. He is from Guinea.

I think the main problems are that there is not a lot of hygiene in the areas that have been affected and I have seen comments about things like funerals, which are apparently very 'hands on' events over there because of the local culture. I am not sure when someone actually becomes infectious, which may be late on in the disease. I do not think it would take off the same in a developed country.

We will just have to see how things go, but changes of itinerary are often not notified until you actually get onboard, so no point worrying too much at this stage. If there is any concern at all they will cancel a port. We are having a bad year as we were booked on a Black Sea cruise for Oct which was due to call at 2 Russian ports and 4 in the Ukraine - we were allowed to cancel that cruise a few months ago with no loss - thankfully!

I have just started a roll call for the 2nd Dec cruise. If you go to the 'roll call' section and click on Fred Olsen roll calls, you will see it. It gives a thread specific to this cruise and often people from the roll calls meet up when onboard.

Cheers,

Barbara

Hi all, I'm not booked on your cruise but on a Lisbon to Miami Regent Seven Seas cruise due to stop at Dakar on Oct. 21. Many of the cruisers on our message board are concerned about Ebola. Did you know that sweat (perspiration) is a body fluid that is one of the contagions for Ebola. One of the early indications of the virus is high fever (causing perspiration) while the subject is still mobile. An example is the recent college student who came through the border between Guiana and Senegal and came to Dakar. Three of his family members have already died from Ebola. The head of the CDC (Center for Disease Control) here in the US just returned (September 2, 2014) from a West Africa tour and said that the spread of the disease will get worse in the next few weeks. For details on his report, do a search on CDC. I'm hoping that our cruise line decides to bypass Dakar this time.

Jerry

Hi all.

I was seeing a friend today, who is actually our booking agent,

Anyway, hot of the press, Fred Olsen had actually messaged her, whilst I was there, to say that Cape Verde would not allow people access to thier Islands, whom had been in Western Africa, within 30 days, That included, mainly, Dakar. The passengers saftey is their priority.

They wll email my friend when a change of itenary has been made (port wise), if indeed, that is possible. Maybe another day at sea??

Ho hum, my First Ever cruise and I am looking forward to it, whatever.:)

Africa and Ebola

Cape Verde Ebola prevention sees ban on Senegal arrivals

by TPN/ Lusa, in World · 01-09-2014 21:05:00 · 0 Comments

Cape Verde has banned any non-resident foreign nationals from entering the country if they have been in Senegal over the last thirty days, the country’s Minister of Health Cristina Fontes Lima told a press conference Monday.

The measure in particular would impact on flights making stopovers in Senegal where the World Health Organisation recently confirmed a first case of Ebola.

"Non-resident foreign crews on regular flights and ship movements who, in the last 30 days have been in Senegal will not be able to enter the national territory and subject to full compliance with the directives handed down by the sanitary, aeronautical and maritime authorities," explained Lima.

The minister also used the occasion to confirm that all Cape Verdeans citizens and residents would be subject to 30 days of sanitation control measures after having spent time in any country registering cases of ebola: Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Conakry, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"Cape Verde is aware that taking such measures as these, effectively and balanced, contributes towards stopping the disease and guaranteeing we remain free of the virus” said the minister.

We will have to see what Fred comes up with then. It is only affects specific countries that have had a known Ebola presence, so does not include Gambia, so I am wondering what they will do about Banjul at this stage. It is good that Cape Verde is subjecting their own nationals to '30 days of sanitation control measures', which I presume should limit any tranmission risks.

I have searched a few reliable looking sites and have seen reference to the virus only becoming transmissible just before the symptoms become obvious, so there does seem to be a lot less fear of it really taking off in more developed countries. Sweat was mentioned earlier, but I do not know if the virus particles are in sweat in the earlier symptomatic stages. It is possible that it is, but without full knowledge of the progression of the disease, it is not possible to state that something is the case. The bleeding seems to be something that appears in the later stages, if at all. From what I understand, (if I am correct), it would also be necessary for the virus particles to enter an open cut or via a mucous membrane, (by touching your mouth for instance) for infection to take place.

We were looking forward to some time in a warmer climate as much as anything as we have had a difficult few months and missed much of the good weather. We are not sure just how warm the Canaries would be in December, especially if on the deck of a moving ship at sea. We have been to Gambia for a couple of holidays, so although a revisit would have been good, West Africa would not have been somewhere new to us.

A third Cape Verde Island, El Hiero and Agadir were on Fred's itineraries for earlier this year and some of them spent a day in Tenerife before setting sail. So possible alternatives could include one or more of those. Would quite fancy El Hiero or another Cape Verde island ourselves - it would be a shame to spend time somewhere that is easily visited at other times.

I haven't checked the source of this news about Cape Verde but I did get this from another Cruise Critic Message Board.

Ebola: 27 people quarantined in Cape Verde

Restlessness increases

Santa Maria - September 4 - The Cape Verdean government has indicated this Thursday, that there is 27 people quarantined in Cape Verde, being monitored daily by health authorities because of the Ebola virus and ensured the absence of any case.

The information was given by Minister of Internal Affairs, Marisa Morais, at a press conference to account for the decision of the Government in, for exceptional reasons, authorize the entry into Cape Verde foreign nationals who have transited by West African countries affected by the virus .

Speaking to Lusa, Marisa Morais did not reveal the nationality of the 27 citizens - Cape Verdean or retained or arising from Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria - but ensured that Cape Verde is "prepared" to deal with any cases hemorrhagic fever. "They may, for humanitarian reasons, emergency medical, economic and other relevant public interest, entries are allowed in the country by order of the Prime Minister," said Marisa Morais.

Ocean Press

Jerry

I am sorry to hear that you have not had the best of years Barbara. Everybody I know seems to be having a rubbish time of it, of late.

However, may I just correct you and say that El Hierro is actually the sounthermost of the Canary Islands and is only small, so I wouldn't like to say that it is a large enough port for a cruise ship. (unless there is a Cape Verde island, also named El Hiero, then I do apologise) Plus it has recently had underwater colcanic activity there and part of the island had to be evacuated

Most of the people I know who holiday here on Tenerife, find it more than warm, on some days, but most nights can warrant taking a cardi, or little jacket out. It rains occasionally, but not normally for more than a couple of days at a time, if indeed it does rain. And lots of people do holiday here, for 3 or more months (we call them swallows, as they migrate here for a while) for better health.

Just a little thought for you