Scared off by HBO's Last Cruise

[Caps_Shield]

Saw the doc this weekend and now I'm terrified to cruise this Christmas on the Independence.  It really did a number on me.  I forgot how many people are squeezed into one small location on a ship.  Covid is still here and we do not just cruise with US people, there is a possibility of overseas guests.   I never was on the side of only those with vaccines get to cruise but I think I am now.   That was terrifying.  Who knows how many people were tested on that ship and they still had almost 700 people catch it. I am vaccinated so I guess I'll be OK but my whole traveling party & kids under 16...man it's something to think about.  

[loman]

Just watched the Poseidon Adventure on netflix , scared me too  .

[vacationlover_mn]

We also saw this.  One thing to remember is “way back then”, they didn’t know how this was spread.  And, there were no vaccines, no masks, etc.  It will be different, and hopefully safer, when they start up cruises again.

[mek]

I'm not sure what to say.  If you really are terrified perhaps you should reschedule your cruise for a later date.

[George C]

15 minutes ago, Caps_Shield said:

Saw the doc this weekend and now I'm terrified to cruise this Christmas on the Independence.  It really did a number on me.  I forgot how many people are squeezed into one small location on a ship.  Covid is still here and we do not just cruise with US people, there is a possibility of overseas guests.   I never was on the side of only those with vaccines get to cruise but I think I am now.   That was terrifying.  Who knows how many people were tested on that ship and they still had almost 700 people catch it. I am vaccinated so I guess I'll be OK but my whole traveling party & kids under 16...man it's something to think about.  

Looks like Pfizer shot will be approved for 12 and older this week, all adults and crew will be vaccinated, other children will require negative test , I am happy to have a cruise booked for July.

[Nemomof3]

No masks, no social distancing, no vaccine, not everyone listened to the "washy washy" people. I wouldn't watch Titanic though.

[reallyitsmema]

15 minutes ago, Caps_Shield said:

Saw the doc this weekend and now I'm terrified to cruise this Christmas on the Independence.  It really did a number on me.  I forgot how many people are squeezed into one small location on a ship.  Covid is still here and we do not just cruise with US people, there is a possibility of overseas guests.   I never was on the side of only those with vaccines get to cruise but I think I am now.   That was terrifying.  Who knows how many people were tested on that ship and they still had almost 700 people catch it. I am vaccinated so I guess I'll be OK but my whole traveling party & kids under 16...man it's something to think about.  

 

I understand where you are coming from but that was at the very beginning of this pandemic when no one knew anything.  While we have chosen not to cruise early, we are hoping with cruising possibly starting back in July, we will have a much better idea of what cruising will be like at the end of the year.  We have also made the decision to cruise in the best cabin we can afford, so if we are stuck in our cabin, we will have a balcony and some space.

[florida eagle]

19 minutes ago, Caps_Shield said:

Saw the doc this weekend and now I'm terrified to cruise this Christmas on the Independence.  It really did a number on me.  I forgot how many people are squeezed into one small location on a ship.  Covid is still here and we do not just cruise with US people, there is a possibility of overseas guests.   I never was on the side of only those with vaccines get to cruise but I think I am now.   That was terrifying.  Who knows how many people were tested on that ship and they still had almost 700 people catch it. I am vaccinated so I guess I'll be OK but my whole traveling party & kids under 16...man it's something to think about.  

Just saying. Most of the programming on TV and movies is slanted one way politically.

[not-enough-cruising]

At the end of the day, the documentary, in my eyes; was more of an indictment on the Japanese government than on the cruise industry.

[smokeybandit]

Anyone know any good websites for tracking icebergs? I need that before I sail again.

 

 

Seriously though, that documentary merely captured the panic and assumption of the worst about something no one knew anything about.

In hindsight it was a terrible response and that alone is why we're not cruising over 1 year later.

[JABTPS]

Also remember how many other cruise ships were sailing at that time that had no cases.  I haven't seen a number but from what I recall there were maybe 8 to 10 ships that had some level of exposure.  How many ships were sailing during that time, maybe 100?  Does anyone have that info?

[Sea Dog]

I guarantee what you saw in the that documentary will not happen again. I feel perfectly safe on a ship with new guidelines in place. I agree with what @reallyitsmema   said in that the documentary captured a time that everyone did not know what had really happened.

[A&L_Ont]

Hopefully it is a refundable fare. 

[Tree_skier]

I watched the old classic "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" and now I am afraid to eat salad.

[dswallow]

1 hour ago, Nemomof3 said:

No masks, no social distancing, no vaccine, not everyone listened to the "washy washy" people. I wouldn't watch Titanic though.

 

"The Poseidon Adventure" is a better watch before a cruise, anyway.

 

The original one.

 

[NanciRDH]

1 hour ago, JABTPS said:

Also remember how many other cruise ships were sailing at that time that had no cases.  I haven't seen a number but from what I recall there were maybe 8 to 10 ships that had some level of exposure.  How many ships were sailing during that time, maybe 100?  Does anyone have that info?

No real info, but my DD was crew on Explorer and they had no known cases on her ship, and she was onboard until they started sending non-essential crew home a week after the no sail order.  

[smokeybandit]

There were about 50 cruise ships of varying sizes that reported a covid-related issue

 

Only 16 reported 20+ cases. Of those 16, 5 were crew-only.  Of those 11 left, only 3 had more than 100 cases.

Diamond Princess

Grand Princess

Greg Mortimer (a tiny ship with only 80 cabins)

 

So of those 50 ships, you had 2 traditional cruise ships with any tangible passenger spread. 

Edited May 3, 2021 by smokeybandit

[Midway7934]

JABTPS.......I was on the Anthem at the time that doc was filming.  It was the very beginning (February 2020).  When I watched it I had no idea what was going on in the rest of the world. Our cruise left out of Bayonne and was suppose to go on a 9 day cruise to the Bahamas. When we arrived we were told we couldn't board because several Chinese passengers had gotten sick and needed to be "tested". It was my 50th anniversary cruise booked in a star class suite. Star class for the very first time!. My Genie kept in touch by cell phone.  She called 2 days later with news that the passengers tested negative. The captain and Royal kept everyone informed. Because of the delay, the captain got permission to sail to Bermuda. What started out like a nightmare turned into the most amazing trip ever. Bermuda was our honeymoon island. We had 2 days of 73  degree sunny weather. Royal then GAVE US OUR CRUISE FARE BACK, half directly to the credit card and half in an FCC. I have moved the FCC from this year to next. In my humble opinion, don't give up on cruising or even Royal Caribbean. 

[JABTPS]

Our ship was  covid free.  Pacific Princess for 111 days and our dream cruise around the world.  Little did we know that it would all come to a screeching halt in the Indian ocean.  No outbreaks at all, but certainly not anything like the video.  We ended our cruise on March 21st, so we were still sailing for almost another month past the end of Diamond's outbreak.  Most ports in Asia closed so we went from Perth to Sri Lanka thinking we would continue our port calls only to find out that  only supplies would be received and armed guards on the pier.  Within 1 day after they canceled the cruise and 10 days back to Perth.  But I still will get back on a ship this fall!  Life is too short to live in fear for another year.

[mek]

9 minutes ago, JABTPS said:

 But I still will get back on a ship this fall!  Life is too short to live in fear for another year.

I can't wait for my November Oasis cruise.  The jury is still out on whether or not cruising will still be something I'm interested in doing going forward, but I'm hopeful that it eventually will.

I feel like a lost a year of my life and since I have been vaccinated and thankfully things are getting back to normal.

[twangster]

The CDC's lack of response during this time let the virus ravage nursing homes.  If they did a documentary about it you'd likely be afraid to drive past one in your hometown.  Far worse compared to cruise ships.  

 

Thanks goodness we know so much more about it now.  Different world then.

[Moltar]

I'll take your tickets.

[PTC DAWG]

4 hours ago, Caps_Shield said:

Saw the doc this weekend and now I'm terrified to cruise this Christmas on the Independence.  It really did a number on me.  I forgot how many people are squeezed into one small location on a ship.  Covid is still here and we do not just cruise with US people, there is a possibility of overseas guests.   I never was on the side of only those with vaccines get to cruise but I think I am now.   That was terrifying.  Who knows how many people were tested on that ship and they still had almost 700 people catch it. I am vaccinated so I guess I'll be OK but my whole traveling party & kids under 16...man it's something to think about.  

You should stay home..

[Eddie Wilson]

I had a nightmare the Creature from the Black Lagoon became a mad scientist and joined the DNAs of Godzilla, the alligator in Lake Placid, the water creature from the Abyss, Simon Cowell, Eddie Haskell, the snakes in Anaconda and the Squid from 20,000 leagues under the sea while positive for Covid.

 

Eddie

[ReneeFLL]

There is no comparison to what future cruises will be like to the documentary. We didn’t know anything about covid back then and we do today. I would go on the cruise if I was you.

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by ReneeFLL