Update Companies are changing policies and procedures as the outbreak has travelers worried and bookings softening. [This article is part of the developing coronavirus coverage, and may be outdated. Go here for the latest on the coronavirus. ] “The first thing I do every morning when I open my eyes is Google ‘coronavirus,’” said Diane Fudge, a travel adviser at All Inclusive Travel Concierge in Homosassa, Fla.
Half of Ms. Fudge’s business comes from selling cruise vacations, so she is keeping a close eye on the situation for her clients. She is also checking for herself: As of now, she plans to go ahead with a March cruise to Mexico. Thirty-two million passengers were expected to embark on ocean cruises in 2020, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), and this is the time of year when large cruise ships are most likely to be sailing in Asia, so the coronavirus outbreak couldn’t have come at a worse time.
People over 60, an important cruise customer demographic, are especially at risk from the virus, and vivid images from the quarantined Diamond Princess, as well as a drumbeat of cruise-related news, have compounded travelers’ worries. On Wednesday, Princess cruise line sent a notice to passengers and crew aboard the Grand Princess which was on its way back to San Francisco, informing them that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was investigating a cluster of Covid-19 cases in Northern California connected to the ship’s previous sailing. Passengers on board who had also sailed on that previous voyage were being asked to remain in their cabins “in an abundance of caution. ” The ship was held off the coast of San Francisco after officials learned that a coronavirus patient who died near Sacramento on Wednesday had traveled on the vessel last month and that 21 people on board were showing symptoms.
On Sunday, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recommended that those most at risk of being made severely ill by the coronavirus — the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions — distance themselves from large groups of people and abstain from travel, including flights and especially cruise ships. Companies are responding by changing sailing itineraries, barring crew or passengers who have been in the hardest-hit countries from boarding, implementing more vigorous health screenings, and increasing onboard cleaning and crew training.
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All this is to keep people safe, reassure customers and stanch cancellations. The current situation is fluid. Karen Shelton, the owner of the travel agency My Path Unwinding near Charlotte, N. C.
, said about 60 percent of her business comes from cruise sales, so she has been fielding dozens of calls from worried travelers. Many who are booked on cruises to Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean are taking a wait-and-see approach, she said, in deciding whether they will go. They don’t really have a choice in many cases, she added, because travel insurance “doesn’t cover worry,” and many cruise lines’ cancellation penalties remain in place. Here’s what travelers who have cruises booked for the next few months can expect.
Cruise companies have typically had stringent cancellation fees and polices, but some companies are softening their stance as health conditions unfold. Get an informed guide to the global outbreak with our daily coronavirus
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Many, including Viking River Cruises, Norwegian, MSC Cruises, Silversea Cruises and Seabourn are letting people delay their sailings, cancel within days of a trip or substitute another passenger for the one originally booked (usually a no-no). Policies vary by company and even by scheduled sailing, so travelers should contact their travel agent or cruise company.
Princess Cruises, operator of the Diamond Princess, which was quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, with hundreds on board sickened, and the Grand Princess, the ship being held off San Francisco, said on Thursday that it would allow people who had cruises booked in the coming weeks to cancel and receive a credit for a future cruise. Those who do not meet the current health criteria for boarding can cancel with no penalty, but a doctor’s note or other proof may be required. Ms.
“Fudge, the travel agent, said she’s never seen this kind of relaxation of the rules in the cruise industry.”
“I keep getting different notifications, extending final payment, allowing people to change dates, it’s all unprecedented,” she said. “Normally if you don’t go you lose your money. ” Member companies of the industry association CLIA are generally abiding by its evolving rules regarding who can and can’t board one of their ships. Passengers and crew are to be kept on shore if they have visited or gone through airports in Iran, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau or parts of Italy within 14 days before embarkation; if they have cared for someone who has or might have Covid-19 disease; or if they have exhibited symptoms of the virus.
Travelers turned away for these reasons will receive a full refund. Royal Caribbean is one company going beyond the CLIA guidelines and denying boarding to any passenger who has come within six feet of anyone who has been in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran, South Korea or Italy within the last 15 days. The company will be relying on passengers to be truthful about any close encounters. To comply with these regulations, passengers are filling out health and travel questionnaires before they board.
“Cruise companies always screened passengers for health, but the questions are more specific now to the virus,” said Ms. Shelton. Preboarding temperature checks are also becoming more common. After a meeting in Florida on Saturday with executives from top American cruise lines, Vice President Mike Pence said that he has asked the cruise industry to work closely with the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard, and the Centers for Disease Control on a cruise industry-led effort enhance entry and exit screenings for passengers and crew members on cruise ships and to establish shipboard testing for the coronavirus over the next 72 hours.
“New quarantining standards will be coordinated with the CDC for all ships and we also will be working with the industry as they develop a plan to move any patients who contract the coronavirus or otherwise become seriously ill to land-based facilities,” Mr. Pence said. The vice president added that he expected the cruise industry and the administration to announce progress made in these efforts early next week. Companies have been canceling some sailings, adjusting the itineraries of others, and in some cases moving to their next scheduled part of the globe a bit early.
Seabourn, for example, canceled one cruise departing from Singapore, and replaced another ship’s Asian ports of call with Australian ones. Alaska cruises are expected to start up a bit earlier than usual for Viking and some other lines. Cruise companies have always reserved the right to change their schedules based on local circumstances. A letter posted Feb.
12 on the Celebrity Cruise company website states that a March 17 cruise will embark from Dubai instead of Singapore, replace the stop in Thailand with a day at sea, and extend days in India. The letter states that “normal cancellation penalties will apply. ” For a passenger two to four weeks from departure, the penalty is 75 percent of the trip cost. Passengers are likely to encounter some or all of the following on board: increased cleaning frequency by staff, especially in high traffic areas; more hand sanitizer stations; and staff handing out disinfectant wipes.
Self-serve buffets may also now be tended by servers. Jenny Block, the author of Be That Unicorn, has been on more than a dozen cruises and noticed that the typical health and cleaning activities had “gone up a level” on her mid-February sailing on the Royal Princess to Cabo San Lucas. In addition to sanitizer stations at restaurant entrances, there were now sinks to wash hands and staff encouraging their use. Multiple health-focused announcements were made each day.
“We were told that public restrooms were available but to use our own stateroom bathrooms when possible,” Ms. Block said. Passengers started taking some of their own precautions, such as walking more slowly down the staircase rather than holding the banister. Tariro Mzezewa contributed reporting from New York and Christopher Cameron contributed reporting from Washington, D.
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