Swine Flu Update: Mexico Tries to Woo Cruise Ships Back

[LauraS]

Cruise Critic has just posted the following news:

Swine Flu Update: Mexico Tries to Woo Cruise Ships Back

Read the entire news article...

[brasam]

Let Splendor be a Mexican Rivera
I think the whole swine flu has been blown way up. The US said today that all schools need to go back to school. If someone in your school has it or symptoms of it do not shut down the school send them home. It also was reported today on the WHO website that the CDC issued this advice to the US and that it is know more harmfull than the normal flu. Mexico has also issued a statement inviting cruise ships and air lines back into their country and they will give tax breaks to the ships and planes. The Mexican Rivera ports has not had any cases other than a few in Cabo but. New York, Texas, California, and Canada have far more cases. So it doesn't make sence why Carnival is going to Canada now with them having the larger cases and it is colder so flu would spread faster. I think it is time to turn Splendor around and go to Mexico as planned. I think Carnival would be suprised at how many people would stay on the ship heading to Mexico. The ones that are uncomfortable about it, then give them the voucher and they can rebook. The ones that already bailed ship would not be happy but, they should have waited to see how this was going to phase out. It has been obvious that this whole thing was BLOWED way out of porportion. I think everyone still on Splendor need to voice our opinion to Carnival that if CDC is saying that its no more than the flu and kids should go back to school. Then the ships should go back to Mexico, look at the numbers it's going to be safer in Mexico than Canada..........Let them know that we want to go to Mexico
Last edited by brasam; Today at 02:04 AM.

[muskrat897]

http://www.cruising.org/cruisenews/news.cfm?NID=401

[Scooter-n-GB]

This is ridiculous! Do they screen for traditional seasonal flu? Not everyone gets a flu shot every year, and transmission of this "swine" variety is no more virulent than the yearly flu.. Media has done it to us again!!

[FunCruiser56]

Are air passengers going through screening also? No one is going to be truthful on these questionares kowing if they say yes they have a runny nose they might be denied boarding and loose their cruise investment...

While I agree we need to be careful about illness's I think that the media has blown it all way out.

Bev

[yarlenna]

Many people are saying that "the media has blown it all way out". Saying that is fine if you know that we have the benefit of hind sight. I was a nurse back in the years that AIDS came into our lives. They did not "blown it all (the) way out. We were not even allowed to use gloves for blood and other body fluids. It only become news when people who were not gay or from Haiti got it. By that time lots of people had been infected. THEN the news started to demand answers. I hope we have learned our lessons. We cannot know how an new flu can turn out. What would you say if they had just said : this "swine" variety is no more virulent than the yearly flu" and then many more died? They could not know how it would turn out. I hope that the people who are in charge will continue to try to keep all of us safe.

[LHP]

The danger is IF this mild version of H1N1 gets to Asia and mutates with their "bird flu" into a H5N1 .... when it comes back to the US in December, it is no longer a "mild flu". It is exponientally more deadly.

As much of a hassle as over-reacting is today, it is better than the hassle we will have if this thing mutates. And to stop it from mutating later....we must "over-react" now.

[annpharm]

As a pharmacist, I agree this WAS blown out of proportion and I am not using hindsight, I have been saying it from the beginning. The media reported over a hundred deaths in Mexico from the first report. Only now is the death toll up to 42, still nowhere near "a large portion of the population" as is required for a pandemic.

I do not blame the CDC, I place all of the blame on the media. Watch any random clip from FOX news and they were using phrases like "millions could die". RIDICULOUS to make statements like that when at that point Mexico had 7 (that's SEVEN) cnfirmed cases. To date there have been about 2000 cases reported worldwide. Statements about proper handwashing techniques, etc. should have been made but to cause this kind of drama with the travel industry already suffering from the economic troubles we are in was irresponsible. As has been stated and was true from the beginning some of the itineraries were changed to places that had already had confirmed cases of the flu...so what was the point? It may have been in the "name" of safety but realistically in a true pandemic no travel would be safe. JMO

[36kruzes]

To the pharmacist: I totally agree with your post. Rerouting ships and closing schools, et al, has been absolutely ridiculous in this case. From the very start of this 'flu' everything would have had to shut down at once, worldwide, but what's resulted instead is a lot of useless fear mongering and "authorities" and media running around with their hair on fire. Should we ALL just stay home for the two years the WHO says it might take to find out what the true potential of this scourage is? Yeah, that'll work.

Originally Posted by annpharm

As a pharmacist, I agree this WAS blown out of proportion and I am not using hindsight, I have been saying it from the beginning. The media reported over a hundred deaths in Mexico from the first report. Only now is the death toll up to 42, still nowhere near "a large portion of the population" as is required for a pandemic.

I do not blame the CDC, I place all of the blame on the media. Watch any random clip from FOX news and they were using phrases like "millions could die". RIDICULOUS to make statements like that when at that point Mexico had 7 (that's SEVEN) cnfirmed cases. To date there have been about 2000 cases reported worldwide. Statements about proper handwashing techniques, etc. should have been made but to cause this kind of drama with the travel industry already suffering from the economic troubles we are in was irresponsible. As has been stated and was true from the beginning some of the itineraries were changed to places that had already had confirmed cases of the flu...so what was the point? It may have been in the "name" of safety but realistically in a true pandemic no travel would be safe. JMO

[36kruzes]

Trying to compare AIDS with flu ---- is like comparing apples and oranges -- personal behavior is the primary way AIDS is transmitted -- with any flu -- it's random -- airborne. Yes, it's unfortunate so many had to die from tainted blood transfusions or blood related 'accidents.'

I am not in the medical field but just KNEW instantly when I saw the two sentence article in Los Angeles Times, back in 1981, that this AIDS thing would be HUGE and DEADLY, and involve people everywhere, far beyond those with any connection to Haiti.

Originally Posted by yarlenna

Many people are saying that "the media has blown it all way out". Saying that is fine if you know that we have the benefit of hind sight. I was a nurse back in the years that AIDS came into our lives. They did not "blown it all (the) way out. We were not even allowed to use gloves for blood and other body fluids. It only become news when people who were not gay or from Haiti got it. By that time lots of people had been infected. THEN the news started to demand answers. I hope we have learned our lessons. We cannot know how an new flu can turn out. What would you say if they had just said : this "swine" variety is no more virulent than the yearly flu" and then many more died? They could not know how it would turn out. I hope that the people who are in charge will continue to try to keep all of us safe.

[yarlenna]

Originally Posted by 36kruzes

Trying to compare AIDS with flu ---- is like comparing apples and oranges -- personal behavior is the primary way AIDS is transmitted -- with any flu -- it's random -- airborne. Yes, it's unfortunate so many had to die from tainted blood transfusions or blood related 'accidents.'

I am not in the medical field but just KNEW instantly when I saw the two sentence article in Los Angeles Times, back in 1981, that this AIDS thing would be HUGE and DEADLY, and involve people everywhere, far beyond those with any connection to Haiti.

But they did not know how it was transmitted.

[36kruzes]

When I read about it the very first time in 1981, it was strongly suspected that the virus was transmitted via "gay sex" which meant eventually it would spread elsewhere since there were/are so many bi and in-the-closets gay males. To me, even then, it was easy to see how it would spread like wildfire, and it did.

Originally Posted by yarlenna

But they did not know how it was transmitted.

[cezzzz]

Is that for real? Where did you heard about it? Well that's really a very big issue