Coronavirus in Italy

[fdl2020]

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/coronavirus-italy

Here we go again. Will be watching the developments with bated breath. While the Mediterranean season is a couple of months away, the cancelation penalties are already kicking in. 

[Hawaiidan]

4 hours ago, fdl2020 said:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/coronavirus-italy

Here we go again. Will be watching the developments with bated breath. While the Mediterranean season is a couple of months away, the cancellation penalties are already kicking in. 

Yes and Switzerland, Canary Isl,  Austria, France,  and probably every other country in Europe and Asia

Personally I would not book travel anywhere till at least the fall  or preferably next year.   You do not have to travel...it is a choice not a requirement.    With no virus vaccine and not until fall or next year  I plan on hedging  my bets and stay home

Your call....your dime...your risk choice.

[Paulchili]

1 minute ago, Hawaiidan said:

Yes and Switzerland, Canary Isl,  Austria, France,  and probably every other country in Europe and Asia

Personally I would not book travel anywhere till at least the fall  or preferably next year.   You do not have to travel...it is a choice not a requirement.    With no virus vaccine and not until fall or next year  I plan on hedging  my bets and stay home

Your call....your dime...your risk choice.

That's reasonable if you don't have plans to travel this year.

A bit more difficult if you have travel plans for the Fall. Many things can be cancelled(hotels, even cruises) but others no so easily (airline tickets, etc).

[Hawaiidan]

2 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

That's reasonable if you don't have plans to travel this year.

A bit more difficult if you have travel plans for the Fall. Many things can be cancelled(hotels, even cruises) but others no so easily (airline tickets, etc).

Very true Paul,  however, looking at the big picture , I would rather loose a few$ than my health.   Money is replaceable .....quality of life is not.

[bbwex]

I would guess that this is going to be in every country within a month or so.  There are small outbreaks in the U.S. and it is bound to get worse before it gets better.  For the time being, we are watching and waiting as we have a cruise out of Venice in late October.

[Zesty Italian]

Sadly, we are supposed to dock in Rome mid April and many on ship have plans to stay in Italy for days.  Now we get to experience what all the folks with Asia cruises went through: will we dock in Italy, do we want to, if another port can we get tickets home, compensation...…  Called travel insurance yesterday and were told we'd be called back last night.  Still haven't heard from them.  Another big jump in cases confirmed in Italy just since yesterday so hard to imagine things will be good in a month.

[pingpong1]

2 hours ago, bbwex said:

I would guess that this is going to be in every country within a month or so.  There are small outbreaks in the U.S. and it is bound to get worse before it gets better.  For the time being, we are watching and waiting as we have a cruise out of Venice in late October.

bbwex - Our TA cruise (Riviera) departs from Rome in late October, as well.  A stop in Cannes, 3 ports in Spain, and Madeira as well.  We plan on arriving in Rome/Florence/Naples a week before the cruise begins.  Even though late October is still quite a while away....who knows what Europe will be "like" (Corona-wise) by then?

[bbwex]

On 2/25/2020 at 5:51 PM, pingpong1 said:

bbwex - Our TA cruise (Riviera) departs from Rome in late October, as well.  A stop in Cannes, 3 ports in Spain, and Madeira as well.  We plan on arriving in Rome/Florence/Naples a week before the cruise begins.  Even though late October is still quite a while away....who knows what Europe will be "like" (Corona-wise) by then?

This could well be a worldwide pandemic before long.  I know that they are hoping that it will significantly slow down when it gets warm, and that could be since a few cases have been reported in Malaysia but there has not been much spread.  This is really one big question mark.

[clo]

On 2/25/2020 at 12:30 PM, Hawaiidan said:

Your call....your dime...your risk choice.

Yep. We have a Baltic/Scandinavian O cruise for early September. Final date to cancel with no penalty is early May and only $250pp til early June. I'll be keeping an eye out.

PS: I'm about the furthest thing from a germophobe. Drink tap water almost all over the world.

ETA: Just checked the policy for Norwegian Air, who we'll fly. Our tickets are non-refundable but we can change dates for $150pp. That should help. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by clo
add info

[tocruiseguy]

We have a Med cruise booked for June and plan to be in Italy afterward.  Our final payment is due in late March and I am not sure we will risk paying for the full cruise with all that is going on.  Glad I haven't booked my flights yet.   Cruise companies are going to take a huge hit over that Diamond Princess issue, its hard to believe almost 25% of passengers and crew ended up with the virus.  

[Jancruz]

On 2/25/2020 at 12:37 PM, Hawaiidan said:

Very true Paul,  however, looking at the big picture , I would rather loose a few$ than my health.   Money is replaceable .....quality of life is not.

IMHO..staying home doesnt insure staying well..will you go to a market, a restaurant, a movie..any place with people is dangerous when there is an epidemic..I rather take my chance and travel ..in reasonable areas..we leave for Carribbean, Alaska and Panama Canal all in 2020..and not canceling unless O does..I remember when I was a kid and there was polio..i knew kids that got it and their parents would not let them go anywhere but school

Jancruz1

[clo]

11 minutes ago, Jancruz said:

IMHO..staying home doesnt insure staying well..will you go to a market, a restaurant, a movie..any place with people is dangerous when there is an epidemic..I rather take my chance and travel ..in reasonable areas..we leave for Carribbean, Alaska and Panama Canal all in 2020..and not canceling unless O does..I remember when I was a kid and there was polio..i knew kids that got it and their parents would not let them go anywhere but school

Jancruz1

But, come on, the tight quarters on ships and airplanes provide a good environment for 'cooties.' And a lot has changed since the 50s. Schools are likely to shut down also. (A kid across the street from us got polio and was in braces and on crutches for a few years.)

[drkitkat123]

we are all probably going to get exposed to this and current thinking is about 50% will be infected. There is some theory about getting exposed early so that if you get sick and have to go to hospital, go before the hordes are sick. Not sure about this!

[clo]

19 minutes ago, drkitkat123 said:

we are all probably going to get exposed to this and current thinking is about 50% will be infected. There is some theory about getting exposed early so that if you get sick and have to go to hospital, go before the hordes are sick. Not sure about this!

But getting infected doesn't even mean you'll get sick and if you do it might not be very sick. Maybe treat with anti-virals. Going to the hospital? Probably few % wise.

[tocruiseguy]

19 minutes ago, drkitkat123 said:

we are all probably going to get exposed to this and current thinking is about 50% will be infected. There is some theory about getting exposed early so that if you get sick and have to go to hospital, go before the hordes are sick. Not sure about this!

 

China has had approximately 78000 cases, that is a far cry from 50%.  

[drkitkat123]

Just now, tocruiseguy said:

 

China has had approximately 78000 cases, that is a far cry from 50%.  

No - 50% is if it really turns into a global pandemic.

[drkitkat123]

2 minutes ago, clo said:

But getting infected doesn't even mean you'll get sick and if you do it might not be very sick. Maybe treat with anti-virals. Going to the hospital? Probably few % wise.

agreed, vast majority will not need to go to hospital but if you one of the few that does need to go to hospital, would you rather not go before the hospital are overwhelmed (a small percentage of a very large number makes overwhelmed hospital likely)

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, tocruiseguy said:

 

China has had approximately 78000 cases, that is a far cry from 50%.  

Is it over now? Goody goody gumdrops (sarcasm emoji)

[Kate-AHF]

I just don't know how you stop the spread of this virus. I fully expect it will become endemic.  I'm not a epidemiologist or doctor, but when you consider that the incubation period can be two weeks, and the fact that people that have active cases of the virus can be completely asymptomatic, global spread seems to be inevitable.  

[Redtravel]

Not knowing what will happen is making people uncomfortable.  Nobody wants to get sick. 
We hope to be able to take the cruises that we have booked. Not booking anything new now.  

[cruisingaussies]

2 hours ago, tocruiseguy said:

We have a Med cruise booked for June and plan to be in Italy afterward.  Our final payment is due in late March and I am not sure we will risk paying for the full cruise with all that is going on.  Glad I haven't booked my flights yet.   Cruise companies are going to take a huge hit over that Diamond Princess issue, its hard to believe almost 25% of passengers and crew ended up with the virus.  

We have B-2-B Med cruises in June, final payment for the first cruise due 10 March.  Our flight from Australia routes via Singapore, Milan to Barcelona where we board the ship.   Currently RCCL and Celebrity not allowing pax who visited/passed through Lombardy (ie Milan) to embark.  Praying that O won't do the same thing.  Flight is Singapore Airlines business class and non-refundable.  We spoke with our travel insurance who state that as we paid our insurance before 31 January (we paid on the 30th!) we'll be covered for coronavirus related incidents.   Payment made on or after 31 January will not cover it.  Currently thinking we'll just go ahead and hope for the best.

[Beagle5]

41 minutes ago, cruisingaussies said:

 Our flight from Australia routes via Singapore, Milan to Barcelona where we board the ship.  

 

We have similar for our July med cruises. I booked cheap Finnair business 8 months ago which go via Hong Kong and Helsinki - into Barcelona and out of Milan. First leg to Hong Kong is on Cathay.

As it stands we would be denied boarding on Riviera because we would spend 2 hours in HKG airport 9 days prior to embarkation. Which is starting to look a bit odd because there are now only 65 active cases in Hong Kong and 440 in Italy where the cruise goes.

Under the current rules we can get our deposit back if we make final payment in early April, and arrive at the ship showing our flight itinerary in July. Oceania say that in that circumstance they will deny us boarding and provide a full refund. Not sure if I want to test them on it. But a five week driving holiday of Spain and France is starting to look more likely...

[clo]

25 minutes ago, Beagle5 said:

But a five week driving holiday of Spain and France is starting to look more likely...

Where the virus is already.

[cruisingaussies]

22 minutes ago, Beagle5 said:

 

We have similar for our July med cruises. I booked cheap Finnair business 8 months ago which go via Hong Kong and Helsinki - into Barcelona and out of Milan. First leg to Hong Kong is on Cathay.

As it stands we would be denied boarding on Riviera because we would spend 2 hours in HKG airport 9 days prior to embarkation. Which is starting to look a bit odd because there are now only 65 active cases in Hong Kong and 440 in Italy where the cruise goes.

Under the current rules we can get our deposit back if we make final payment in early April, and arrive at the ship showing our flight itinerary in July. Oceania say that in that circumstance they will deny us boarding and provide a full refund. Not sure if I want to test them on it. But a five week driving holiday of Spain and France is starting to look more likely...

So many variables at the moment and for sure things will keep constantly changing.  I hope your trip goes ahead as planned!

[susiesan]

Baltic cruise on Marina June 26. Flight to CPH and home from ARN with UA FF miles on AC and SAS airlines. The only way I am not going is if O cancels the cruise. I would be refunded by O and I can redeposit the miles for a fee which would likely be waived if all airlines stop flying to Europe. After this cruise, 10 day safari in Namibia in September. Still planning on that vacation. I just booked a 1 week Tahiti cruise with Windstar for next January and I am not having second thoughts. I will carry on traveling as I have been for 50+ years until I am forced to stop by government edict. If that happens, we are all doomed.