Corona virus "exploding" in Italy today

[HPSE81]

in 2 days, 66 reported cases (most of them today) and 2 dead. Im going on MSC Grandiosa from Barcelona 27.02 and the boat will stop in Genoa, Cicitavecchia and Palarmo.. 

 

Im a bit worried... Anyone else? 

 

Some on MSC Grandiosa Forum Facebook group said that he have been in contact with MSC and they are considering to Cancel or change the ports? (dont know if its true) 

[Captain-John]

Unless you are elderly or suffering from certain pre-existing medical conditions I don't think you have much to worry about.

 

By worry, do you mean for your health, or for the integrity of your cruise/itinerary?

[HPSE81]

im worried about that it could be a new Princess Diamond.. 

[ebonybee]

Just now, Captain-John said:

Unless you are elderly or suffering from certain pre-existing medical conditions I don't think you have much to worry about.

 

By worry, do you mean for your health, or for the integrity of your cruise/itinerary?

 

I disagree, there are other implications but yes health is the major one. There is the economic impact of being quarantined for a lengthy period.  A member of my party is a physical therapist at a hospital.  If she is caught up in this situation or  close contact with someone who has, I’m pretty sure she would lose her job or be years before she is allowed to treat patients.

[Captain-John]

1 minute ago, ebonybee said:

 

I disagree, there are other implications but yes health is the major one. There is the economic impact of being quarantined for a lengthy period.  A member of my party is a physical therapist at a hospital.  If she is caught up in this situation or  close contact with someone who has, I’m pretty sure she would lose her job or be years before she is allowed to treat patients.

 

Yes, fair point. In the UK we don't have that kind of punitive approach to quarantine, as far as I'm aware - although I may be fortunate with my employer who is encouraging at least 14 days' fully paid quarantine to those who have travelled in the affected region.

 

3 minutes ago, HPSE81 said:

im worried about that it could be a new Princess Diamond.. 

 

The quarantine aspect has added an extra dimension to this. It would not be ideal. Health wise, I think the risks are small.

[BermudaBound2014]

If you think the Italian numbers are growing take a look as South Korea. 

[Markanddonna]

Does anyone know how these people are getting the virus? I was surprised by a very large number of Chinese passengers on the Grandiosa on our Nov sailing. One-third were from mainland China. A staff member gave me that figure. None were ill at that time, but I was sure surprised by that huge group. 

[aprilF]

8 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

Does anyone know how these people are getting the virus? I was surprised by a very large number of Chinese passengers on the Grandiosa on our Nov sailing. One-third were from mainland China. A staff member gave me that figure. None were ill at that time, but I was sure surprised by that huge group. 

No, and that's part of the problem right now.  Without a patient 0 and contact lists to trace, everyone is basically suspect. (A bit of an over dramatization but close enough to the truth.)

[floridian1]

We r on this cruise next month. Getting worried too. Not about the virus specifically..but the ramifications if someone on our cruise gets it...fearful of ports denying the ship, quarantine, etc

[deliver42]

So far, it's confined to Northern Italy. but we all know by now how fast that can change.

[travelberlin]

We are cruising to Venice in March. Looking with concern at the developments in Italy. 

[sidari]

A report in the UK Guardian says that a Japanese woman who was one of a group of 23 released this week who was tested negative, yesterday tested positive for the virus, officials are urgently trying to track down the rest of the group.

It seems that 14 days is not long enough for Quarantine.

[fragilek]

47 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

We are cruising to Venice in March. Looking with concern at the developments in Italy. 

My family live just north of Milan, and we are getting updates from them last count 132 infected.  Shelves  in supermarkets quickly emptying.  No hand sanitizer left in shops.  My niece is a nurse in a large hospital in Como and they are all on alert.  The Venice carnival has been suspended and all football matches are now canceled in the region. Uni in Milan closed and exams dates moved my BIL is a lecturer there.  Some towns now have road blocks and permission required to come or go. Austria is now looking at closing the road boarder with Italy as one case is only a few Km away. There are now cases in Venice itself.

If they are going to this effort I would expect that the government will be assessing the risk of allowing ships to roam from port to port in Italy. And I expect other countries will feel the same especially as a large number of the passengers will be Italian

Edited February 23, 2020 by fragilek

[CelebrationFamily]

Scheduled on the Grandiosa the end of March. Various private excursions we have booked with a deposit are due for final payments soon. Hubby is an ER doc here in the US. He can't afford to get exposed, let alone quarantined for an indefinite period. Seriously considering canceling, even if we can't get a refund on our cruise fare. So many unknowns still at this point. 😷

[Cruising89143]

We’re watching closely. We fly to Barcelona seven weeks from Tuesday. A good amount of time between now and then but if this virus continues to spread through Europe I think we’re going to start seeing cancellations by the cruise lines. We have two stops in Italy. They do not want another Diamond Princess situation. I’m not so much worried about getting the virus as much as I would be getting quarantined on a ship. 
 

I read this article yesterday about cleaning the DP. Going to be a lengthy and expensive cleaning job for Princess. 
 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22495-princess-issues-rfp-to-clean-and-sanitize-diamond-princess.html

[HPSE81]

I hope that they have learned from Diamond Princess.. Do not Qarantine a whole ship... But its not easy.. 

[2013cruiser2013]

Anyone else tried contacting MSC about Med. sailings between now and April? We are leaving out of Genoa on Seaview. This looks like it could get vey bad by then. 

[Cruising89143]

16 minutes ago, 2013cruiser2013 said:

Anyone else tried contacting MSC about Med. sailings between now and April? We are leaving out of Genoa on Seaview. This looks like it could get vey bad by then. 

I haven’t. I think it’s too early for the cruise lines to make any decisions. We need to see if this plays out like Asia where we will see other European countries close borders and deny cruise ship visits. Then it becomes an issue. Right now it’s a wait and see game. 

[ebonybee]

Just read where the city of Costa Mesa do not want the U.S. evacuees to relocate to a facility in their town.

[floridian1]

I am getting so worried. we have been planning and looking forward to our rome trip and msc med cruise for a year - leaving in 3 weeks. everything booked and paid for including transfers and ind. tours. traveling with our kids too. this is a nightmare. i hope italy gets this under control FAST.

[BermudaBound2014]

8 minutes ago, floridian1 said:

I am getting so worried. we have been planning and looking forward to our rome trip and msc med cruise for a year - leaving in 3 weeks. everything booked and paid for including transfers and ind. tours. traveling with our kids too. this is a nightmare. i hope italy gets this under control FAST.

I do have empathy for you- I never do well with unknowns. One thing I may suggest (you probably are doing this already) is to boost your immune system now. I always start emergent-C two weeks before travel. I also do elderberry and make sure I am keeping up on a  multi vit and if your from north, vit D. None of these things will hurt, and the boost may help. Ps- I do this regardless of corona, but we are traveling in April and I’ve already started elderberry daily. No guarantees of course, but I feel like since I’ve started the vit c boost before any airline travel I’ve had fewer viral colds. Hope this helps, will keep an eye out for you.

[CruisinMaterial]

Outside of Genoa being a major cruise hub for MSC, I would suspect the cruise lines entirely pulling away from any northern Italian ports on either side for the time being. The last thing any of the cruise lines want is another Diamond Princess situation on their hands. I doubt MSC will be calling on Genoa for too much longer. Venice is a wild card on the Eastern side of Italy. I suspect soon enough given rail travel's extensive use in Italy and Europe, this will spread. Air travel has some restrictions whereas the train stations don't have similar which means more people coming and going and getting in contact with each other. Let's hope Italy contains this quick enough but i fear they won't. South Korea is another glowing example of it not being contained fast enough.

 

My thoughts are with all of you who are fretting about the upcoming travels. I hope you've invested in travel insurance to deal with any sudden itinerary changes (embarkation / debarkation points in affected hot zones).

[neptuno]

Travel insurance does not cover cancellation for fear of possible coronavirus.

[fragilek]

That's a few countries issued warnings against travel to infected parts of italy, which means no insurance if you travel against this advice. Also Mauritius has refused entry to a plane from italy unless passengers willing to undergo quarantine. The plane has returned to italy. 

If this continues for any length of time cruise lines will start to feel the impact

[JS_PL]

Venice is definitely the wild card. Many cruises & cruise lines embark/disembark there. Including ours in 9 weeks!


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