AoS Refused Entry to St Lucia And Antigua

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3263

Swine flu on AoS has caused them to be denied docking at St Lucia and Antigua. I'm guessing they get extra sea days...

Ugh, I feel bad for the passengers. :(

I read the same story...hope they get into the other ports! :eek:

Yikes :eek: I feel for the passengers and the crew...

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We're sailing on the AOS July 5 and will be highly dissapointed if we miss our stops because of this. :(

Really glad that we wern't kept from any ports on our Serenade sailing. I just wonder if the cruise line has put anything in the compass as to why they aren't making the ports of call? We didn't have any information on the Serenade about the crew members being sick. The only information was a standard statement about, in each compass, about how to help prevent the chance of getting a cold or flu.

We found out about the ill crew members in Prince Rupert on the internet on day 12 of the 14 night cruise.

My parents and family are on the AoS right now. he said they are going on to St. Thomas...wasn't a happy camper....but oh well!

Oh gosh - just saw this. Don't know enough to put myself at ease :).

We're to board AOS this Sunday - what are your thoughts? Will this affect our cruise?

Maybe later boarding times as they do a thorough cleaning??

My parents and family are on the AoS right now. he said they are going on to St. Thomas...wasn't a happy camper....but oh well!

I would gladly trade places with him. He can go to the office tomorrow for me and i will take his place on the ship. Let me know if he is intrested.

Oh gosh - just saw this. Don't know enough to put myself at ease :).

We're to board AOS this Sunday - what are your thoughts? Will this affect our cruise?

Maybe later boarding times as they do a thorough cleaning??

No one can honestly answer your questions right now.

Remember that Royal Caribbean had no control at all once they were denied entry.

Sending positive vibes to the future and current AOS cruisers!!

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I don't care if we just sail around in circles for 7 days but let me on the ship! :)

People are totally overreacting to the swine flu or flu symptoms period and I work in healthcare. That's all I have to say about that right now...

I feel very bad for these AOS cruisers. That would be very frustrating. I would not be a happy sailor either.

:(

I saw Adventure got denied port stops because of 3 cases of swine flu aboard. I'm wondering if the passengers will get anything for the trouble. I can see both sides.

You sign your contract knowing ports may be cancelled.

Its not RCCL fault tis happened.

However, Lots and Lots of money is poured into a cruise. For some its a once in a lifetime type vacation. I'm thinking of how incredibly sad I would be if I got on my cruise and had to sit on the ship for 7 days. I enjoy the ports most of all and really the main reason I go on cruises. I can pass on casinos, and shows, and the eating, but I really love the ports.

I know if was no ones fault per se but these guys are losing multiple ports because 1 passenger has the flu. The chances that any of us going on a cruise this summer and having 1 of 4000 people get sick are icredibily high.

I couldn't believe it when I read the article posted by Cruise Critic. I would have thought that the various health departments on these islands would be more up to date on this. Every week of the year there is probably someone on a cruise ship showing up at a port of call with flu, and other, viruses. So this is different how? They are about a month behind the times as far as this reaction goes. Three people on Adventure hardly make her a castaway ship of illness to fear.

I can only imagine some of the posts that will be showing up after Adventure arrives back in San Juan on Sunday. Of course, that is assuming that Puerto Rico allows her to return home.:rolleyes:

I couldn't believe it when I read the article posted by Cruise Critic. I would have thought that the various health departments on these islands would be more up to date on this. Every week of the year there is probably someone on a cruise ship showing up at a port of call with flu, and other, viruses. So this is different how? They are about a month behind the times as far as this reaction goes. Three people on Adventure hardly make her a castaway ship of illness to fear.

I can only imagine some of the posts that will be showing up after Adventure arrives back in San Juan on Sunday. Of course, that is assuming that Puerto Rico allows her to return home.:rolleyes:

The islands must really be trying to isolate themselves from the swine flu. My friend's daughter is on Carnival's Victory right now. They were supposed to stop in St. Lucia today but were being turned away. When he talked to her yesterday, Carnival hadn't provided a back-up plan. Obviously my information is all second hand, but the passengers were told that someone onboard had been to the infirmiry with "flu-like" symptoms so the ship was being denied entrance to the St. Lucia port.

Anytime you miss a port for whatever reasons is a disappointment. It's too bad they missed those ports. I, too, would be frustrated.

I'm on the Adventure in March and certainly hope this whole "Swine Flu" mess is resolved before then.

Oh no!! We're due to get on AOS on 6/28. I really hope this doesn't affect our sailing. We've been waiting a year for this trip! And have spent alot of time researching these ports :(

RCI (and other lines) need to act quickly to determine how many, and for how long these ports are going to be closed to thier vessels. Its not fair to passengers to just ride it out day to day. And its fine to say its not RCI's fault (and if RCI was not informed that this would happen ahead of time then its not) but now that they have been refused entry once, the next time (and every time after that) will be thier fault if they do not let people know in advance.

I have to say that if I were given a choice of staying out in the beautiful warm weather going in circles and missing some ports, versus going to San Francisco and Seatlle (when the boat was supposed to head south), I would vote for the warm weather every time.

I am sure that the ship did everything it could to keep the passengers happy and busy.

We went on a cruise from LA to Hawaii two years ago. It was four sea days going, five or six days visiting around the islands, and another four sea days coming home. I LOVED it. And it was the first time in 20 years I have seen my husband actually relax!

I'll take a sea day anytime :)

IMHO this is a risk one takes when booking a cruise. Sometimes events transpire outside of the cruise line's control that cause port(s) to be missed. It is unfortunate but I would not expect Royal to offer significant compensation; perhaps a small credit towards a future cruise would be a nice gesture. I agree with the previous poster regarding it being ashame that the islands at issue her are not better informed about how to handle a couple isolated cases of swine flu. Hopefully most of the passengers were still able to have an enjoyable vacation even though they missed out on some ports.

IMMHO

I don't think that RCL knew at the time they set sail that they would be denied entry into these ports. The ports are not closed to all ships only this particular ship. And I am sure when they left the embarkation port they had no idea that some people on their ship would come down with this flu. As disappointing as this is we all know that itineraries can and do change. It is a "given" when you decide to take up cruising as a hobby. We have only been on 5 cruises and it has happen to us twice.

Hopefully RCL can come up with some type of compensation to give back to the people sailing on this particular route. We all know that not everyone will be happy about what they get back but anything, no matter how small, is better than nothing at all.

A mere three cases of flu (and still not confirmed it's swine flu) among a couple of thousand folks and the ship cannot dock? This whole swine flu frenzy was overhyped to begin with, due in great part to media hysteria. I would bet more than three people from any ship walk off with some type of illness that could be contagious and possibly harm people. And, who can say that there are not some island residents with a contagious disease a passenger could catch. We can't live in a bubble.

This was bound to happen. And I assume we will hear more and more as this thing progresses.

RCI (and other lines) need to act quickly to determine how many, and for how long these ports are going to be closed to thier vessels. Its not fair to passengers to just ride it out day to day. And its fine to say its not RCI's fault (and if RCI was not informed that this would happen ahead of time then its not) but now that they have been refused entry once, the next time (and every time after that) will be thier fault if they do not let people know in advance.

It will only be RCI's fault in the future if they knowingly allow a passenger or crewman with Swine Flu to remain on board.

These ports deal with many different cruise ships every day. They are only informed 24-48 hours in advance of the health status on board the visiting ships. At that time, they make the call whether or not to allow the ship in to port.

For example, about a month ago, a Disney ship was denied entry in to Key West due to a sick crewman. The denial was made only 4-5 hours before the ship was due to port. To make matters worse, Key West was going to deny entry for any ship that visited a Mexican port.

I'm also scheduled to board AOS on Sunday, and I agree with other posters who have basically said that there are contagious conditions on every ship AND in every port.

It angers me that St. Lucia and Antigua are so panicked over the media-induced H1N1 frenzy that they would turn away thousands of healthy people who will spend money on their islands. It also angers me that cruiselines, port personnel, etc. are so quick to label any condition with "flu-like" symptoms as H1N1. Yes, there's a chance it could be, but the testing process for H1N1 confirmation takes something like 10 days -- so it's IMPOSSIBLE for them to know if these passengers or crewmembers actually have H1N1. It's just as likely that it could be Influenza A or the common cold -- both of which share symptoms of cough, runny nose, fever, etc.

Would you still take a cruise if you knew other passengers might have cold? Or if a fellow passenger was a nurse who, when not vacationing on a cruise ship, works in a hospital where H1N1 cases are treated? Because I'm here to tell you that, whether you know it or not, you would and you DO!

Honestly, I'm afraid I'll be denied boarding at the port if my nose is running due to my seasonal allergies. But even if they do let me onboard, who knows when I'll be quarantined or the ship will have to miss a port because of me. It's complete madness!