Ebola making a difference in your next cruise?

[yomamad]

Today I received a return email from Celebrity. I asked what they were doing in regards to Ebola.

 

Hi Denise,

 

I know the scare for Ebola is pretty intense, and I just want to let you known what Celebrity is taking it's extreme precautions to ensure that it doesn't board our ships.

They are bringing in new protocols and screening at check in, as well as not allowing any guest who has traveled through the infested areas within the last 30 days to board any of our ships.

We have not hired anyone from these locations, and have screened all crew members who are from these areas that are onboard our ships.

I hope this puts your nerves at ease, and if you have any other questions, give us a call. We are here for you 24/7.

 

Have a lovely weekend! :)

 

Amanda Pujol

Celebrity Vacation Planner

 

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app

[Lizzie68]

Maybe to help get it into perspective.... our local news here in BC just did a segment on the reactions south of the border. Not intending any derogatory implications, but that should be over-reactions. First the facts were addressed, and then some of the 911 calls and public statements were aired. It was actually very funny, but on the other hand rather sad that something can get so out of hand so quickly and factual information discarded while hysteria rules. I think the funniest part was a 911 call from a seemingly intelligent man who insisted on having an ambulance because he was sitting near someone he heard had come from somewhere in Europe, including West Africa.:rolleyes: DH and I couldn't stop laughing.

[wandb]

 

I am deciding whether to make final payment for the first cruise I had hoped to take since my DH passed. Among other factors I have been considering, I now have definitely added these Ebola stories to things I am weighing. I imagine there are others here who are also deciding whether or not to make final payment. Maybe these discussions are helping some of us? Who better to talk about thoughts of cruising than those on a cruise forum?

 

 

Hi, Sail. I have been so happy for you that you had decided to take this step of first cruise without your DH, because I knew that besides your friends who encouraged you to cruise with them, you would not be alone!! As soon as your Roll Call realized you were on the cruise with them, they would be so excited to meet you (I know I would! ):) and to chat with you and learn from your experience on so many cruises.

 

When is your final payment date? Ours is in less than 3 weeks, and we have decided to go ahead with final payment. We will trust that HAL will do its best to protect us. Hopefully, by your final payment date, the news reports will be a bit more factual, and a little less emotionally charged. (However, we know that for many reporters, facts are not always sensational enough to make the news!!)

 

I, for one, have enjoyed your many posts, and have benefitted from your wise advice over the last few years. You and RuthC are my travel heroes!!

I really hope you get to take your cruise.

[CowPrincess]

Maybe to help get it into perspective.... our local news here in BC just did a segment on the reactions south of the border. Not intending any derogatory implications, but that should be over-reactions. First the facts were addressed, and then some of the 911 calls and public statements were aired. It was actually very funny, but on the other hand rather sad that something can get so out of hand so quickly and factual information discarded while hysteria rules. I think the funniest part was a 911 call from a seemingly intelligent man who insisted on having an ambulance because he was sitting near someone he heard had come from somewhere in Europe, including West Africa.:rolleyes: DH and I couldn't stop laughing.

 

It is (to me) quite alarming that so many people have abandoned their common sense. I'm sure we will see similar outbursts in Canada. You are correct about hysteria ruling :(

[Boytjie]

yes, Cozumel denied them

 

http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/mexico-fails-to-ok-call-by-ship-with-quarantined-ebola-lab-worker.html

 

Yes, I saw that later confirmed. There were so may rumors flying around at the time and I just wanted to what was for real. :)

[Boytjie]

I saw a good term for all of this; Fearbola.

[sail7seas]

Hi, Sail. I have been so happy for you that you had decided to take this step of first cruise without your DH, because I knew that besides your friends who encouraged you to cruise with them, you would not be alone!! As soon as your Roll Call realized you were on the cruise with them, they would be so excited to meet you (I know I would! ):) and to chat with you and learn from your experience on so many cruises.

 

When is your final payment date? Ours is in less than 3 weeks, and we have decided to go ahead with final payment. We will trust that HAL will do its best to protect us. Hopefully, by your final payment date, the news reports will be a bit more factual, and a little less emotionally charged. (However, we know that for many reporters, facts are not always sensational enough to make the news!!)

 

I, for one, have enjoyed your many posts, and have benefitted from your wise advice over the last few years. You and RuthC are my travel heroes!!

I really hope you get to take your cruise.

 

 

Wandb.........

 

Thank you for such a lovely post. Your kindness is greatly appreciated. I'm really not sure if I will go or not but have a bit of time yet to decide. This Ebola business is one more thing in the mix to consider.

 

Airports are not likely to get any more user friendly and more nonsense on airplanes. They had people sitting on a plane in Logan this week for three hours while they took off five passengers who seemingly had a cold. This was after a 14 hour flight from Dubai. Ugh......

 

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

What is going to happen if someone has a simple cold. Someone who is on the maybe just getting over it. they show up at ship and are denied boarding. What happens you can't fly home hotels ar booked. If you get on a plane will they stop you? It has never happened to me. But where does that person/ family go? If you are far away from home.. You may be only one sick at time of boarding they deny you. the a day or two your family who takes the cruise become ill. Does the ship help you? Of you have insurance does it pay for hotel and flight home/

 

Mary

[sppunk]

Wandb.........

 

Thank you for such a lovely post. Your kindness is greatly appreciated. I'm really not sure if I will go or not but have a bit of time yet to decide. This Ebola business is one more thing in the mix to consider.

 

Airports are not likely to get any more user friendly and more nonsense on airplanes. They had people sitting on a plane in Logan this week for three hours while they took off five passengers who seemingly had a cold. This was after a 14 hour flight from Dubai. Ugh......

 

 

If it helps, wandb is one of the nicest, friendliest, awesomist person I've ever come across and I urge anyone to sail with her and her lovely husband.

 

Ebola in the US is less of an issue than the flu, measles, lightning strikes, polio and death by spoon.

[sansterre]

How good is MedVac or any insurance if you can't disembark in another country? DH and I thought we had all corners covered but now we could be taking a 40 day cruise to no where! If you consider this hysteria, I'm sorry. Please stop reading this thread.

Please realize that for those of us who are going on a long cruise in a few weeks, this is important.

[Hflors]

I think that Ebola (real or proceived) in the US is a large issue because not many people in this country have any confidence in our government. When this virus started to spread from country to country our government should have, at that time, put out a travel ban on persons coming from any of the effected countries. Instead the CDC (which in my opinion has been wrong more times than the weather man) got on the TV and assured everyone that they knew how to handle this. Then this gentlemen Thomas Duncan from one of the countries comes into the US and dies after comming into contact with many people. Now two nurses who cared for him have it. All the while the "experts" are on the TV spouting about how much they know and there is no reason to close our borders because the chances of catching this for Americans is so slim. (Maybe slim, but if you happen to be one of the unlucky ones who get sick and die you may not feel that the chances are slim).

 

And the final item that makes me mis-trust the government is the President appoints an "Ebola Czar" Now you would think that this CZAR would be the head of his field in Medicine or research in Ebola, but NO the gettlemen is a Lawyer! So now we are stuck with a "shut your mouth" Your lawyer will tell you when to talk Man. Which leaves most of us trusting our government even less than ever!

 

I applaud Belize and Mexico for standing up and protecting their citizens. They are poor countries and could have greatly benefited by the tourism dollars that would have been spent by those passengers, but instead they saw a threat (it doesn't matter if its real or preceived in my opinion) and they thought of their citizens first.

 

I keep asking myself if not putting in travel bans and allowing people from the affected countries to come to the US is a matter of political correctness, incompetence or pure greed!

 

My last thought on the subject. Why should a lowly lab tech ( I do not mean "lowly" as uneducated, but as a comparison to the large government who makes simular travel decisions) at a before now unknown hospital in Dallas stop her travel plans when the US government allows people to fly into our country every day in the same situation? They come from an effection region she came from an effected hospital. I say stop blaming her and put the blame where it belongs. Was she any more inconsiderate for traveling then people from affected regions in Africa???

 

hmmmm

Edited October 18, 2014 by Hflors

[mame42]

How good is MedVac or any insurance if you can't disembark in another country? DH and I thought we had all corners covered but now we could be taking a 40 day cruise to no where! If you consider this hysteria, I'm sorry. Please stop reading this thread.

Please realize that for those of us who are going on a long cruise in a few weeks, this is important.

 

Hopefully, in the next 13 days before we embark there will be no new cases of Ebola in the US or in the western Med countries we will visit. Otherwise, who knows what the situation may be when we return? I have concerns about possible new travel restrictions, etc., that may be instituted during our 6 week absence.

[sansterre]

Hopefully, in the next 13 days before we embark there will be no new cases of Ebola in the US or in the western Med countries we will visit. Otherwise, who knows what the situation may be when we return? I have concerns about possible new travel restrictions, etc., that may be instituted during our 6 week absence.

I have the same concerns. Who knows what things will be like in mid December. Hmmmmm......

[mamaofami]

How good is MedVac or any insurance if you can't disembark in another country? DH and I thought we had all corners covered but now we could be taking a 40 day cruise to no where! If you consider this hysteria, I'm sorry. Please stop reading this thread.

Please realize that for those of us who are going on a long cruise in a few weeks, this is important.

 

I am concerned that someone with a medical emergency that needs to be treated in a hospital(not Ebola) might not get the care they need if countries start denying access to their hospitals.

[EbayCruiser]

I am sorry my posts have disturbed you. I understand the stress you must have suffered from your son's illness. Many of us have had serious health issues with our loved ones.

 

I am deciding whether to make final payment for the first cruise I had hoped to take since my DH passed. Among other factors I have been considering, I now have definitely added these Ebola stories to things I am weighing. I imagine there are others here who are also deciding whether or not to make final payment. Maybe these discussions are helping some of us? Who better to talk about thoughts of cruising than those on a cruise forum?

 

 

I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your DH. I have been off the HA boards for awhile and was not aware of his passing. I am truly sorry for your loss and I am sure he will be sorely missed when you do resume cruising.

[Seago2]

Wandb.........

 

Thank you for such a lovely post. Your kindness is greatly appreciated. I'm really not sure if I will go or not but have a bit of time yet to decide. This Ebola business is one more thing in the mix to consider.

 

Airports are not likely to get any more user friendly and more nonsense on airplanes. They had people sitting on a plane in Logan this week for three hours while they took off five passengers who seemingly had a cold. This was after a 14 hour flight from Dubai. Ugh......

 

 

Sail, as someone who has read probably 90% of your posts, I think deep down you have real misgivings about this cruise and are not ready yet. You were so "on the fence", it's a cruise line you're not entirely wild about, there's a good chance that it's too soon, and I think the way you are viewing this Ebola issue is entirely correct. I canceled my January Princess cruise because of the Ebola issue, and not because I'm afraid of catching Ebola. It's the amazing cluster that would occur if someone became symptomatic on a cruise. People travel to get to a cruise port and travel is the way this thing is going to spread. And spread it will. I fear the societal impact that will happen if more cases are diagnosed, and they will be. I think the Dallas issue has played itself out but when Ebola spreads to Asia - forget about it. Much, much more travel and commerce between Asia and the US than Africa and the US. At the very least it will not be the time to travel.

 

For those about to embark on the trip of a lifetime, or for those on a once a year vacation, I would say the benefits far outweigh the risks. For those who cruise several times a year and who possess the reservations you do already, I would say to skip the cruise and wait until things settle down.

 

That's just MHO. I think everything you have said on the Ebola subject has been reasoned and correct. I think this is not a great idea for you at this time.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[Folk Singer]

I was so surprised last night when I suggested we buy airline tickets to FLL for a holiday cruise and not book the ship till the last minute looking for a deal. If the ships were full, that would be fine and we would enjoy Florida sunshine!

 

The surprise was when DW said, I prefer to not travel until we learn more about the Ebola situation.

 

Anyone else amending their travel plans?

 

 

No. It makes no difference to us. We will take a few extra precautions but will not let it overtake our enjoyment out of Cruising.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Folk Singer

[Folk Singer]

Yes, I saw that later confirmed. There were so may rumours flying around at the time and I just wanted to what was for real. :)

 

 

Do not blame you for your concerns.

[CowPrincess]

How good is MedVac or any insurance if you can't disembark in another country? DH and I thought we had all corners covered but now we could be taking a 40 day cruise to no where! If you consider this hysteria, I'm sorry. Please stop reading this thread.

Please realize that for those of us who are going on a long cruise in a few weeks, this is important.

 

IMHO only, there is so much "noise" right now, especially in the media, that it is impossible for people to make rational decisions about travel plans. I have great sympathy for you and others in your position, because there is an avalanche of NOISE about the situation. The noise isn't helping you make decisions, just providing more "information" to obscure what you need to know, to allow you to make the most valid decision for you and your family.

 

We were scheduled for a cruise just around the time of the H1N1 outbreak (I think that was it....) One of my travel companions spent (IMHO) far too much time reading everything and listening to everything. She then started building nightmare scenarios in her mind: We were going to be denied re-entry to Canada, the ship would be forced to stay offshore from any ports, we would never be allowed to return home, we would be quarantined in a warehouse with 1258 others.

 

In fact, none of that happened. In fact, by the time she boarded the ship the "noise" had died down, she was able to evaluate the facts, and was comfortable getting on the ship.

 

I hope that you are soon able to make an informed choice about what you are going to do. It can't be easy to be where you are now.

[murcor]

 

My last thought on the subject. Why should a lowly lab tech ( I do not mean "lowly" as uneducated, but as a comparison to the large government who makes simular travel decisions) at a before now unknown hospital in Dallas stop her travel plans when the US government allows people to fly into our country every day in the same situation? They come from an effection region she came from an effected hospital. I say stop blaming her and put the blame where it belongs. Was she any more inconsiderate for traveling then people from affected regions in Africa???

 

hmmmm

 

Good point!

 

******btw, we are nervous about our cruise in Jan. We will wait and see what happens up to then.

 

 

 

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Forums mobile app

[Sam.Seattle]

No. It makes no difference to us. We will take a few extra precautions but will not let it overtake our enjoyment out of Cruising.

Good for you! Looks like your next cruise is 9+ months away and by then we should know a whole lot more!

 

What precautions do you have in mind?

[IRL_Joanie]

..........<SNIP>........ But to think people are listening to sensational news reports more that to the medical and scientific experts is baffling.

 

..........<SNIP>........this is hysteria and it needs to stop...........<SNIP>........

 

So agree with you on all that you stated, however the 2 statements I've highlighted and snipped are exactly what I feel!!

 

The media around the world, and most likely Politicians, are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Bide with me as I explain my reasoning.

 

Why is it that every time a political issue (at least in the US) comes to either a boiling Point (or nearly so) the media, and politicians focus away from that topic to literally, HYPE something else?

 

It seems to me that while Ebola is in a state of crisis in some parts of Africa, which have, depending on you listen to, hundreds, thousands or even over a million (according to one person I heard on a news report, while trying to find something better to waste my time), it has not reached/is not reaching/will not reach a crisis in the more developed countries, such as the US, Canada, United Kingdom, etc... etc.

 

There has to be a point where we all have to say, "Enough is Enough!!"

 

I am saying that Now!! "Enough is Enough!!"

 

To the media I say, "Quit sensationalizing every tiny germ, every little incident." I realize the media has to have topics to keep themselves on the air, in print, etc., but it has gone beyond "News that is important" and is now more of a News that is more along the lines of a "National Enquirer", type of media:(

 

OK, Off my Soap Box diatribe and back to the real world.

 

Joanie

[IRL_Joanie]

I saw a good term for all of this; Fearbola.

 

Absofreaking !!!

 

Joanie

[Lizzie68]

I agree. Although, when she says this is making a mountain out of a molehill and we shouldn't be concerned since ebola has not reached our shores yet, and probably won't, I would have to say that downplaying the issue is just plain wrong. Since this virus has indeed reached frightening levels in other countries, even though they are far away, it's fair to say that there is, in fact, a danger to any country.

 

Downplaying the issue is not happening. Bringing people back to reality from full blown hysteria is. And getting it into perspective. It is a serious issue - one person has died in the US. Not sure how many others are affected (2 nurses currently) and some others in isolation just in case. Currently I am more concerned about the enterovirus which is spreading much more rapidly and affecting kids, and those with compromised respiratory system.

[sail7seas]

I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your DH. I have been off the HA boards for awhile and was not aware of his passing. I am truly sorry for your loss and I am sure he will be sorely missed when you do resume cruising.

 

Sail, as someone who has read probably 90% of your posts, I think deep down you have real misgivings about this cruise and are not ready yet. You were so "on the fence", it's a cruise line you're not entirely wild about, there's a good chance that it's too soon, and I think the way you are viewing this Ebola issue is entirely correct. I canceled my January Princess cruise because of the Ebola issue, and not because I'm afraid of catching Ebola. It's the amazing cluster that would occur if someone became symptomatic on a cruise. People travel to get to a cruise port and travel is the way this thing is going to spread. And spread it will. I fear the societal impact that will happen if more cases are diagnosed, and they will be. I think the Dallas issue has played itself out but when Ebola spreads to Asia - forget about it. Much, much more travel and commerce between Asia and the US than Africa and the US. At the very least it will not be the time to travel.

 

For those about to embark on the trip of a lifetime, or for those on a once a year vacation, I would say the benefits far outweigh the risks. For those who cruise several times a year and who possess the reservations you do already, I would say to skip the cruise and wait until things settle down.

 

That's just MHO. I think everything you have said on the Ebola subject has been reasoned and correct. I think this is not a great idea for you at this time.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

 

There are so many really kind people who post on this forum and posts like these are so appreciated. When someone goes out of their way to be considerate and understanding vs. nasty and biting, it stands out all the more. Nothing is gained by an outright attempt to hurt someone with a sharp mouth that does nothing useful to advance the conversation. What could motivate such ugliness?

 

I have never been an hysterical or high drama person, however, this Ebola outbreak is concerning me. Perhaps because I will be traveling solo for the first time, it worries me should I become ill, I'd be on my own after 47 years to manage .... or not.

 

Ebola just made me (and maybe some others) give deep thought to possibilities and realities of getting care for any illness we may experience while traveling. Even if traveling with a partner, such a serious infectious disease makes for profound reality check. In the past, I made sure we had medical insurance but thankfully neither of us never had a medical emergency away from home. Having medical coverage was just something on my travel check list. I am now thinking in terms of possibly really needing to use it.

 

Discussing this Ebola outbreak with fellow travelers who face the same risks has been useful for many of us. Sharing information and considerations is a good thing. Anyone who thinks it not useful or ridiculous is very free to say so but how about doing so without attack and judgment? Those who brush it off as remote risks to them, GREAT. All the more power to you but please be understanding of those of us who, for whatever reason, feel less secure about it.

 

The kind posts here help a lot as they are said with obvious good will and I thank you sincerely. They do help many of us direct our thinking in certain ways and add a note of confirmation others may be thinking the same way.

Edited October 18, 2014 by sail7seas