Thousands may have been exposed to coronavirus on Princess cruise ship; 62 passengers confined

[Kennywood]

Thousands of people on Princess Cruises' Grand Princess may have been exposed to coronavirus after sailing with 62 passengers who company officials say had previously been on a voyage with a man who eventually died from the virus.

But the cruise line has ordered the ship to re-route to San Francisco, where it is expected to arrive Thursday afternoon, according to a letter that Princess officials sent to passengers on board and which is available to read on the company web site

More info here: USA Today

 

[MomOTwins]

"

There are fewer than 100 guests and crew identified for testing, including all in-transit guests (guests who sailed the previous Mexico voyage and remained on board for the current Hawaii voyage), those guests and crew who have experienced influenza-like illness symptoms on this voyage, and guests currently under care for respiratory illness."​

Whhaaaaat? So they're not even going to test people until they know you have had symptoms or were sailing back to back? Seems super irresponsible.

 

[Junebug1029]

"
There are fewer than 100 guests and crew identified for testing, including all in-transit guests (guests who sailed the previous Mexico voyage and remained on board for the current Hawaii voyage), those guests and crew who have experienced influenza-like illness symptoms on this voyage, and guests currently under care for respiratory illness."

Whhaaaaat? So they're not even going to test people until they know you have had symptoms or were sailing back to back? Seems super irresponsible.

I am assuming that their first priority is those people with symptoms and the ones that were on the back to back cruise. Then they will probably check temps and test the rest of the people.

 

[Numtini]

If crew and back to back don't have it, chances are nobody else does. And they probably don't have thousands of kits.

Meanwhile, Disney now has an unannounced policy of allowing rebooking for anyone within two weeks of sailing for $300.

 

[texansue]

If crew and back to back don't have it, chances are nobody else does. And they probably don't have thousands of kits.

Meanwhile, Disney now has an unannounced policy of allowing rebooking for anyone within two weeks of sailing for $300.

Do you have more info on this? $300 per person or cabin? And you have to sail within 2 weeks or your original sailing is within 2 weeks?

 

[fredandkell]

If crew and back to back don't have it, chances are nobody else does. And they probably don't have thousands of kits.

Meanwhile, Disney now has an unannounced policy of allowing rebooking for anyone within two weeks of sailing for $300.

I think they are shooting themselves in the foot with a petty $300 fee. Just let people rebook! It seems they run the risk of people just canceling instead of paying a fee.

 

[Numtini]

Do you have more info on this? $300 per person or cabin? And you have to sail within 2 weeks or your original sailing is within 2 weeks?

Something from my upcoming cruise group. I assumed cabin as its a rebooking fee. The two weeks is departing up to two weeks from today. So really for last minute concerns.

I think they are shooting themselves in the foot with a petty $300 fee. Just let people rebook! It seems they run the risk of people just canceling instead of paying a fee.

Unless you have cancel for any reason insurance (and few do), cancelling a cruise that's less than two weeks from now would be completely non-refundable.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Do you have more info on this? $300 per person or cabin? And you have to sail within 2 weeks or your original sailing is within 2 weeks?

What I had heard through the grape vine was $300 a person and you could do it starting 14 days before your sailing date. Again this is through the grapevine so not straight from DCL. We are cruising on April 25th and have decided to not make any decisions or talk about it until April 1st. No point right now for us.

 

[texansue]

Something from my upcoming cruise group. I assumed cabin as its a rebooking fee. The two weeks is departing up to two weeks from today. So really for last minute concerns.



Unless you have cancel for any reason insurance (and few do), cancelling a cruise that's less than two weeks from now would be completely non-refundable.

Thanks. My cruise leaves on March 14th and I am out 100% if I cancel. I'm surprised there hasn't been more info published by Disney about what concerned passengers can do.

 

[aliciamakino]

What I had heard through the grape vine was $300 a person and you could do it starting 14 days before your sailing date. Again this is through the grapevine so not straight from DCL. We are cruising on April 25th and have decided to not make any decisions or talk about it until April 1st. No point right now for us.

good plan! We are not going till the middle of May and husband is stressing about it daily. Setting a decision date seems to be a good idea. Hopefully by your April 1st date, it will be better.

 

[pezgirlroy]

good plan! We are not going till the middle of May and husband is stressing about it daily. Setting a decision date seems to be a good idea. Hopefully by your April 1st date, it will be better.

It is myself, husband, 9 year old, 4 year old and my parents (75 and 73 but in good health). My husband just keeps saying "We are going. We are going." I have stopped talking about it with my 4 year old just in case. I did talk to my 9 year old and she understands that we might not be able to go. The biggest concern for us is the possibility of containment either on the ship or after we get home because we both work. I asked me dad what he thought in regards to going because of his and my mother's age and who this is hitting the hardest. He said that he understands the concern but as he put it "we are in good health and I have a date with Minnie Mouse that I would like to keep." So we will see what happens. I desperately need a vacation so selfishly I hope it happens. I also feel a bit for Disney and other cruise lines here. They are in an impossible situation.

 

[aliciamakino]

Also wondering.. isn't this the second Princess ship to have issues? I have never sailed them, so I can't speak to it. But curious if it's an issue with the cleanliness of their ships/lack of cleaning or bad luck.

 

[aliciamakino]

It is myself, husband, 9 year old, 4 year old and my parents (75 and 73 but in good health). My husband just keeps saying "We are going. We are going." I have stopped talking about it with my 4 year old just in case. I did talk to my 9 year old and she understands that we might not be able to go. The biggest concern for us is the possibility of containment either on the ship or after we get home because we both work. I asked me dad what he thought in regards to going because of his and my mother's age and who this is hitting the hardest. He said that he understands the concern but as he put it "we are in good health and I have a date with Minnie Mouse that I would like to keep." So we will see what happens. I desperately need a vacation so selfishly I hope it happens. I also feel a bit for Disney and other cruise lines here. They are in an impossible situation.

Same concerns, we are both working parents, travelling with 5 and 1 yr old. Not sure what we would do if we somehow got quarantined. We do have till March 20th to cancel and lose our deposit, but I'm planning on riding it out. I can't see us not going and losing out on the entire cost of the trip, it's a lot of money to just walk away from. And A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT to us all!

 

[n2mm]

We are booked for April 18th. Luckily we are driving so have some flexibility. I’ve been watching all the info as I continue to move forward with my plans.

 

[pezgirlroy]

We are booked for April 18th. Luckily we are driving so have some flexibility. I’ve been watching all the info as I continue to move forward with my plans.

What I really need to do is just stop reading about it and stop worrying because of right now there is nothing that I can do other than stop shopping for cute cruise clothes.

 

[Numtini]

Also wondering.. isn't this the second Princess ship to have issues? I have never sailed them, so I can't speak to it. But curious if it's an issue with the cleanliness of their ships/lack of cleaning or bad luck.

Bad luck and a heavy Pacific ocean presence.

 

[n2mm]

What I really need to do is just stop reading about it and stop worrying because of right now there is nothing that I can do other than stop shopping for cute cruise clothes.

I agree, I’ll worry when I have to. I’ll be proactive. I’ll continue to diet . If the ship is sailing I’m hoping to be on it. I don’t care about rumors. I was happy to get an email straight from dcl over the weekend. Hopefully they will continue to update us.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

What I really need to do is just stop reading about it and stop worrying because of right now there is nothing that I can do other than stop shopping for cute cruise clothes.

No kidding-not even sure we are going, but I have shoes on order!

 

[pezgirlroy]

No kidding-not even sure we are going, but I have shoes on order!

Well we also have a cruise in August on RCL for just me and my husband. I am going on that one no matter what is happening.

 

[Kennywood]

Grand Princess: Test results on 45 passengers expected Friday after dramatic helicopter mission



In a dramatic operation to contain the coronavirus outbreak, four California Air National Guard troopers armed with testing kits rappeled onto a San Francisco-bound cruise ship Thursday to test passengers stranded at sea for two days to see if they have the contagious disease.

More information here: San Francisco Chronicle