Coronavirus and DCL Megathread - Suspension of Departures for the fleet until early November. Booking only available from early December.

[_auroraborealis_]

It doesn't seem to be a problem on these boards when people throw shade on the US or our healthcare system. I've had plenty of people tell me not to be positive on these boards. I wasn't throwing shade at Italy, but I do think we'll be able to handle it better them. Is that a bad thing?

It is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not fact-based. There are hospitals that run out of respirators during bad flu seasons. This is going to be considerably worse if projections come into being, even if we don't have any Wuhans or Italys.

 

[rsvihla]

Since DCL has canceled cruises departing through April 12, the Wonder is going to be stuck in San Diego after it arrives on March 20 from the Panama Canal cruise that is currently underway. The distance from San Diego to Honolulu is almost the same as the distance from Vancouver to Honolulu. I hope they consider changing the Hawaii cruises to depart from San Diego with a stop in Ensenada, Mexico.

 

[Prock]

Throwing shade at other countries isn't being positive... could we not, please? No one is going to tell you not to look on the bright side of things, nor hope the end will be in sight soon.



On it!

We absolutely should be throwing massive amounts of shade at China for this. Not for "creating" the virus, but for lying about it to the world, silencing medical professionals who tried to warn others, and refused help from the rest of the world in initial containment.

 

[AquaDame]

It doesn't seem to be a problem on these boards when people throw shade on the US or our healthcare system. I've had plenty of people tell me not to be positive on these boards. I wasn't throwing shade at Italy, but I do think we'll be able to handle it better them. Is that a bad thing?

Seems to me most of the comments are from US citizens themselves and aren't a quick quip but a full comment. It's not a bad thing to state why you think we'll handle it better, but thats not going to be by virtue of us simply not being them, which suggests there is something inherently wrong with Italy.

Honestly we shouldn't be delving into politics anyway; that is just incredibly hard to enforce given the topic at hand right now. Much of what's going on is government driven so it's going slide a lot over the next couple months at least.

 

[AquaDame]

We absolutely should be throwing massive amounts of shade at China for this. Not for "creating" the virus, but for lying about it to the world, silencing medical professionals who tried to warn others, and refused help from the rest of the world in initial containment.

I would argue that saying WHY China messed up isn't the same as throwing shade. The only comment of theirs that I called out was them saying 'We aren't Italy' without explanation which seemed to rile people. FWIW I also think China could have handled it much better and Italy also seemed to wait too long to enforce enough mitigating policies. I also think a ban on travel that doesn't watch out for our own citizens bringing more of this virus home isn't going to be enough for what they're hoping to accomplish.

I prefer the way some of the cruise ship bans are being rolled out from a pandemic standpoint. No cherry picking people and ports. No assuming certain people are the problem. Just stop for awhile so it can't keep compounding.

 

[smmco]

Seems to me most of the comments are from US citizens themselves and aren't a quick quip but a full comment. It's not a bad thing to state why you think we'll handle it better, but thats not going to be by virtue of us simply not being them, which suggests there is something inherently wrong with Italy.

Honestly we shouldn't be delving into politics anyway; that is just incredibly hard to enforce given the topic at hand right now. Much of what's going on is government driven so it's going slide a lot over the next couple months at least.

There is nothing political about it. The poster I was responding to said something about a young person being denied a ventilator. Most likely fake news, but I can't see that happening in this country. I don't know why Italy is struggling so much, but I think we'll be able to handle it similar to Japan and South Korea.

 

[deide71]

Just an FYI to those of you thinking we will fare better than Italy...if we do it will be because our outbreak peaks slower, Italy has some of the most published Pulmonary Medicine doctors in the world.

 

[smmco]

I would argue that saying WHY China messed up isn't the same as throwing shade. The only comment of theirs that I called out was them saying 'We aren't Italy' without explanation which seemed to rile people. FWIW I also think China could have handled it much better and Italy also seemed to wait too long to enforce enough mitigating policies. I also think a ban on travel that doesn't watch out for our own citizens bringing more of this virus home isn't going to be enough for what they're hoping to accomplish.

I prefer the way some of the cruise ship bans are being rolled out from a pandemic standpoint. No cherry picking people and ports. No assuming certain people are the problem. Just stop for awhile so it can't keep compounding.

The "were not Italy" comment was just a statement that we would not let that happen here. I don’t want people thinking that we do that here.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think we'll be able to handle it similar to Japan and South Korea.

They did pretty strict quarantine, however. And a lot quicker. South Korea are testing thousands of people per day, compared to what we are doing. When they started shutting down public stuff, they didn't do what California did - originally, all the theme parks were excepted, and if "lots of people in one place" is bad, theme parks are bad.

Everything was shut.

Kind of like what France is now doing. If it's non-essential, it's closed.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

The "were not Italy" comment was just a statement that we would not let that happen here. I don’t want people thinking that we do that here.

If our hospitals don’t have enough ventilators for everyone who needs them what are they supposed to do? They can’t perform miracles. They need us to do what we can to slow the spread of the virus so our hospitals aren’t overrun and our health professionals don’t have to make the same decisions. Also, you should go back and re-read what was actually said because you are mixing two posts. No one said that Italy let a young person die because they didn’t have a ventilator. They said they also have young people being hospitalized and they don’t have enough ventilators for everyone. They are being forced to choose who has the best chance at living.

 

[mmmears]

There is nothing political about it. The poster I was responding to said something about a young person being denied a ventilator. Most likely fake news, but I can't see that happening in this country. I don't know why Italy is struggling so much, but I think we'll be able to handle it similar to Japan and South Korea.

Here is what I said:

I am so, so sorry to hear this. I hope this will serve as a wake up call to those who think only the old have issues. Reports have been coming out of Italy regarding younger patients needing intubation and people just ignore them.

I don't see anything about young people being denied a vent. I am tired of being misquoted. The point is, if you read it carefully, that younger people are also becoming critically ill. This was not fake news. This is from an interview with the doc in charge of all the ICUs in the region. He mentioned intubating one 20 year old, and then mentioned that now there are people in their 40s needing ICU. I think it's important to understand what we are dealing with. "It's just the flu" is fake news. The fact that there are younger people who are becoming ill and possibly dying is just the truth.

I don't know much about the Italian health system, but from what I keep hearing it's very good in Tuscany and that is a concern because most Western countries aren't any better.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer here. And I don't want to be some dreamer who thinks this is going to be over in a week and nothing bad will happen. I think we need to figure out what is going on, and for those of us with travel plans, how long this is going to continue so we can cancel/reschedule/whatever.

 

[lanejudy]

I hope they consider changing the Hawaii cruises to depart from San Diego with a stop in Ensenada, Mexico.

That isn’t currently legal. A one-way cruise between 2 US cities must include a stop at a distant foreign port. Ensenada isn’t considered “distant.”

 

[cgolf]

That isn’t currently legal. A one-way cruise between 2 US cities must include a stop at a distant foreign port. Ensenada isn’t considered “distant.”

When we did the inaugural Hawaii cruise, it left LA, did 4 stops in Hawaii, Ensenada, then back to LA. Did the rules change since then?

 

[smmco]

Here is what I said:



I don't see anything about young people being denied a vent. I am tired of being misquoted. The point is, if you read it carefully, that younger people are also becoming critically ill. This was not fake news. This is from an interview with the doc in charge of all the ICUs in the region. He mentioned intubating one 20 year old, and then mentioned that now there are people in their 40s needing ICU. I think it's important to understand what we are dealing with. "It's just the flu" is fake news. The fact that there are younger people who are becoming ill and possibly dying is just the truth.

I don't know much about the Italian health system, but from what I keep hearing it's very good in Tuscany and that is a concern because most Western countries aren't any better.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer here. And I don't want to be some dreamer who thinks this is going to be over in a week and nothing bad will happen. I think we need to figure out what is going on, and for those of us with travel plans, how long this is going to continue so we can cancel/reschedule/whatever.

Sorry I misquoted you. Patients needing vents and people ignoring them. I don't think that's going to happen here. Nobody knows if this is going to be worse than the flu or not. 4 times as many people have died from the flu this year then the Corona Virus. The Corona virus has some catching up to do. You don't know what the outcome of this will be any more than I do. You don't know whats fake news and what's real any more than I do.

Our health care system is very good. Have a little compassion and a little encouragement for those of those on the front lines. I'm tired of people telling us we can't handle this.

 

[AquaDame]

The "were not Italy" comment was just a statement that we would not let that happen here. I don’t want people thinking that we do that here.

I don't want to argue too much about this at the risk of derailing the thread... more... but how are we going to know what we would do here until we are faced with a supply shortage? If there isn't enough to go around (and at the rate it is spreading there will not be enough by all accounts unless we slow it) then how could we NOT have to make choices? Ideally we don't have to find out, you're right on that, but it seems we are on the same trajectory as Italy as things stand.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...s-us-countries-italy-iran-singapore-hong-kong
Edited to add since I read your latest comment just now - I'm not saying we can't slow it. I think we can and we're lucky to have seen how others acted first before we got to the same point.

 

[lanejudy]

When we did the inaugural Hawaii cruise, it left LA, did 4 stops in Hawaii, Ensenada, then back to LA. Did the rules change since then?

That was a single round-trip (closed loop) cruise. The current itineraries are one-way: Vancouver —> Hawaii and a separate Hawaii —> to Vancouver.

 

[TestingH2O]

Ship is apparently short-staffed as well.

I've seen one comment that the buffet seemed short staffed when they started serving us. I have not experienced that nor have I seen any signs that the ship as a whole is short staffed.

Captain Henry announced today that, unless something changes, PV is a go.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

Sorry I misquoted you. Patients needing vents and people ignoring them. I don't think that's going to happen here. Nobody knows if this is going to be worse than the flu or not. 4 times as many people have died from the flu this year then the Corona Virus. The Corona virus has some catching up to do. You don't know what the outcome of this will be any more than I do. You don't know whats fake news and what's real any more than I do.

Our health care system is very good. Have a little compassion and a little encouragement for those of those on the front lines. I'm tired of people telling us we can't handle this.

You’re right we do have a very good health care system. I don’t think anyone is saying it’s bad. We are just saying we need to make sure we are doing our part to slow the spread so our health professionals can do their jobs without being overrun with patients and not enough resources.

 

[Intr3pid]

We absolutely should be throwing massive amounts of shade at China for this. Not for "creating" the virus, but for lying about it to the world, silencing medical professionals who tried to warn others, and refused help from the rest of the world in initial containment.

Yes, the Chinese government didn't look into it seriously enough for too long - and should have never let the Lunar New Year festivities proceed. Italian national government should have also quarantined the Lombardy region at least a week sooner - and stopped the Venice festival.

Similarly, the US should have taken a much harder stance in February. In February, people at the top were outright denying this virus being anything more than a flu. Stock market good = everything OK. State and local governments had to act on their own; businesses had to shut down voluntarily, If there is any lesson learnt from China and Italy vs, say, HK, New Zealand, and Singapore, it's that you have to nip this thing right in the bud. When the numbers are low. Less than 100.

And the harder stance I am referring to isn't the international travel ban. In February, it was already too late. The harder stance means social distancing. Cancelling schools, events, sports, public gatherings, flights, cruises, all starting in February. Non-essential store closures. Priority access to testing kits. Declaring that national emergency.

I can't see that happening in this country. I don't know why Italy is struggling so much, but I think we'll be able to handle it similar to Japan and South Korea. .

The ventilators in a hospital are a stationary equipment attached to the ventilation system. You can't just rip them out from one hospital in one region and take to another. If a region gets overwhelmed by too many cases of respiratory failures and there aren't enough ventilators, yes, patients sadly will start to die. Whether in the US or Italy.

Take a look at this chart for an honest assessment of whether we can handle it the same way as Japan and South Korea:

 

[ivanp91]

Word from the Wonder WBPC is that they haven't been off-ship since the 9th and skipped Cartegena

This isn't as bad as you are making out, at least at the moment. Yes, they skipped Cartagena, but after transiting the Canal there is usually 4 days at sea before their next port. The transit occurred only a few days ago, so virus or not, the passengers would be in the middle of an extended run of "at sea" days anyway.

My personal opinion is it's no big loss that they couldn't pick up John Charles in Cartagena (I know some people love John, my sailing party has never been able to warm to him, and I have heard of diva-like behaviour from people higher up in the DCL ranks)

The crew issue sounds strange, that would mean they left New Orleans understaffed. If they weren't able to take people on then they certainly wouldn't have been offloading anyone either.