YVR Cockroach

Ponant cruises run US$1K pp pd for a 10-day (flight transfer to/from BUE included). Drops 20-30% (hopefully more to 53%) and my wife and I are in.

747FC

Hopefully cleared up by then, but you may not be able to fly there:

CDC Issues Level 3 Warning for Italy

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destina...e/italy#_blank

jmastron

At least one of the cruise line statements (I can't find it now) explicitly said for passengers who had been or would be in a prohibited group to contact them to process a refund, and I'd assume all cruise lines will be refunding people like that.

Since the prohibited groups include those who have contact with others who have been to prohibited places, it would seem that if looking to cancel either stretching the truth ("My roommate just returned from Hong Kong"), or making it the truth by booking a (refundable) flight to Beijing or similar convenienty a few days before the cruise ("I will be in a category that is not allowed on board") should be enough to get a refund of the cruise fare at least. If, right before said flight you came to your senses and cancelled that, well so be it.

I'm not suggesting whether either of these is ethical or not (to be balanced against the trust in the cruise line to do their job 100% at protecting you), but wondering if anyone has done this successfully.

Randyk47

It will be interesting to see what the MSC cruise line does. While they have recently tried to recast themselves in the US they are still primary a family owned Italian cruise line catering to Italians. If they start adding Italians to the prohibited or additional screening list then things have gotten serious in Italy. As I sign off for the night Italy is at 800+ cases and their health minister is saying they are close to their max capability to contain and treat the virus.

YVR Cockroach

FWIW, it appears there are two genetically-distinct versions of the coronavirus in Italy one of which appears to be local so the researchers believe its been around for a while.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...in-coronavirus

atchie

Sorry if this is the wrong thread... I'm curious what you all think though:
My parents are set to leave on a cruise this Wednesday. It's a 21 day-er, leaves Miami, makes a couple of stops in the Caribbean before crossing the Atlantic and stopping in Spain, France, Croatia, and finally its last port: Venice. I have used miles to book them on BA from Venice-Gatwick, spend a night in London, and then miles to fly them business class (their first time in biz!!) BA LHR-LAX. The cruise line still maintains everything is fine (although posted today that they will deny boarding to anyone originating from Italy). My parents purchased travelers insurance, but not the cancel for any reason kind. What do you think they should do?? I can't imagine the ship ports anywhere in Italy, right?? I'm trying to figure out what to do about about their return flights home. With the new travel warning to Italy, does that give any wiggle room to cancel for a full refund?

747FC

It all comes down to your parent's risk tolerance and fear level. It is entirely possible that they can complete this trip without any problem. Of course, it is also possible that the ship will end up not docking in Venice, and then you/they will need to try to reschedule flights from another port city somewhere. Or, maybe BA will no longer fly to Italy. They could find themselves in quarantine, or in a hospital, or just fine: Lots of unknowns. Are they in the CDC-define high risk category:

People at High Risk for Developing Flu-Related Complications

• Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old
• Adults 65 years of age and older
• Pregnant women

People who have medical conditions including:

• Asthma
• Neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions [including disorders of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerve, and muscle such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy (seizure disorders), stroke, intellectual disability (mental retardation), moderate to severe developmental delay, muscular dystrophy, or spinal cord injury].
• Chronic lung disease (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] and cystic fibrosis)
• Heart disease (such as congenital heart disease, congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease)
• Blood disorders (such as sickle cell disease)
• Endocrine disorders (such as diabetes mellitus)
• Kidney disorders
• Liver disorders
• Metabolic disorders (such as inherited metabolic disorders and mitochondrial disorders)
• Weakened immune system due to disease or medication (such as people with HIV or AIDS, or cancer, or those on chronic steroids)
• People younger than 19 years of age who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy
• People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

The travel insurance probably would not help your parents, except in the case of the airlines cancelling out on them, and in that case, the airlines will give a travel waiver. It travel insurance won't cover cancellations due to fear of contagion.

I recently came back from a Japan vacation (first two weeks of Feb). It was nice, but anxiety-provoking. Had I needed to make a decision this week, I would not have gone.

Good luck on the decision-making.

FlyerEC

Our FTer friends based in Italy says all “ ok “ .
Our other FTer friend happened to have a meeting in Milan , seems all flights out to another EU country were cancelled & he had to figure other options .. thankfully managed to return ..

Cruise should be fine but it is this dynamic situation with countries involved & what they might impose, airlines too ..
Hope you have good travel insurance arranged for them . If good risk takers & can still enjoy trip .

Like the EU countries they will be stopping at . Perhaps stay AmanCGV / Venice

We have our Baltic cruise in June / July & looks like availability showing up now when was full before !!

FYI , my Cruisemates & I , some of us in 60s & 70s , are meeting up later to discuss our mainly land trip to Armenia and Georgia mid April .. keeping our fingers crossed . Deciding if we can cruise too this year since availability showing up in many lines . Actually , figuring out for 2021 too

atchie

Thanks for the reply and insight. They are both 66 and in good health. I think I am more nervous about this than they are! Like you said, the trip *could* go great. I worry mostly about them being quarantined someplace, unable to get home. There are just so many variables. I am secretly hoping the cruise line cancels the whole thing between now and Wednesday, although I doubt that will happen.

Global Adventurer

Im not flying there. And yes I'm aware of the state department and CDC advisories. The ship will probably disembark in an earlier port.

Randyk47

At this point in time, and it is an extremely fluid literally hour-to-hour situation, no Italian ports are closed. At least one cruise line has announced it won’t let passengers who have visited the infected areas of Italy within the past 15 days to board. https://www.silversea.com/update-on-coronavirus.html Venice is close to the infected areas so it seems only logical, at least I wouldn’t be surprised to see, barring containment that Venice could be included shortly. Rome seems to have escaped the outbreak so I’d imagine the port in Civitavecchia will be the main port for cruises starting and ending in Italy. While cruise ships stop at other Italian ports virtually none are big enough to become a replacement port for Venice.

PS - Found another line with similar restrictions to Silversea’s. https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/...eak-China.aspx Just found RCCL’s statement. The same as Silversea’s since Silversea is part of RCCL.

SkyTeam777

Like others have said, I am more concerned about returning to the US after having boarded a ship in Italy. How much notice will be given to mandatory quarantine procedures? I don't want to get stuck on a military base in the US for 14 days! Will they just implement it or at least give a warning to those in those areas to get out before the mandatory quarantine is imposed?

Randyk47

Seems to me more likely that a mandatory quarantine would be a last minute decision. Say for instance that after the ship departs Italy a person or people on the cruise shows symptoms. Pretty well guarantee the ship is going to be quarantined at its next port. Not much notice there and if you are evacuated to the US then a stay on a military base or similar arrangement is probably in your future. Pretty sure they aren’t going to say you’re going into quarantine in a day or two and let you wander around until then.

Hoyaheel

Husband says last night - I'm not ready to book anything (any type of travel) as the best deals are yet to come.

So that's the prevailing thought in our household :-)

Randyk47

Went to dinner last night at our favorite Italian restaurant to celebrate wife’s birthday. Our discussion turned to potential cruise discounts and lower fares because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Barring a quick worldwide recovery, which doesn’t seem very likely, we expect that in the next few weeks and maybe months fares will come down significantly. Tempting but then Mrs K pointed out the destinations we like the most are the most impacted. Not really interested in a cruise to just somewhere or nowhere because it’s a bargain.