Traveler

218 confirmed cases. I think the main issue is the fact that the crew is not really confined to their rooms, they eat on the same place ( I guess their cabins is too small to be confined in) and I guess they work side by side. I hope the numbers are still from the first outbreak and in few days it will be be reduced but it dose not seems like that. Now the Japaneses health minister just announce they will let all passengers 80 years old and above which did not show the symptoms to disembark from the ship starting tomorrow.

Got it , what about Coco Cay ? can they stay there for a while ?

The best chance to handle them is to discuss with the countries which issues the working Visa , they can extend it for a while, that what was done were I leave , the country extended all the working visas of the Chinese workers who are staying here.

The good news is that even in China we see less and less new infection , lets hope the trend will continue. Outside China the numbers of new cases still very low. On the other hand there are events which are being impacted like the the Mobile convention in Barcelona, many companies (Amazon , Intel, Ericsson and other) cancel there participation just to be on the safe side. I have another business travel to North America next week and I still not going to cancel it as I have direct flights and number of cases are low there , more chance I will stuck in a snow storm , but this is another risk. Yes I am going to use more alchogell , clean my seat in my aircraft and be aware to my surrounding. One important good point for Caribbean cruise - the Corona virus seem not to like worm weather , so its better to be in a cruise to the Caribbean this time of year ? Adding here the discussion how to avoid other viruses , I guess its relevant to this one also :

This subject is always relevant but now with the Corona virus news its even more.

Number of cases around 135 now . The main issue is that not all the passengers were tested just the people which consider to be with an high risk. The Japanese authorities said they consider now to let the older people on the ship down. we will see.

Excellent news , very innovative initiative from Royal Caribbean , enjoy the cruise.

As we get more and more news about the Corona virus and we see some effect to the cruise industry I guess many people are asking what next and what they should do. A disclaimer - I am not a doctor/nurse/biologist maybe a mild germophobe ? , what I describe here is only some of my thoughts. 1. Don't panic ! - You can track the numbers and see that the number of infected is not growing exponentially anymore on the last few days , that is a good sign , also the virus is not spreading too much outside of China . you can track it on this site from John Hopkins university - https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6 2. To cancel or not to cancel - If you are before the final payment you can do it if you feel like but if you passed this time I would not do anything beside making sure my air travel can be canceled and a travel insurance. If there will be any issue most likely Royal will cancel it and give you a refund while if you cancel before they announce anything you will just loose your money. 3. Prepare for the non expected - For the slight chance there will be any issues and you are taking any prescription medicine make sure you have enough with you for extra two more weeks , also , its always good to bring some prescriptions with you , just in case. I would pack also few packs of hand wash laundry detergent. 4. If you suffer from anything like Asthma , make sure to take a letter from your doctor that describes it . Before you go to the port consider to use your inhaler (per the doctor advise). you do not want to be deny of boarding because the oximeter test due to your asthma and the fact you just carry out your suitcases from the car ... 5. IF you fly , fly the day before , this is always a good advise but also due to the dry air in the aircraft many suffers from temporary symptoms that people might mistake for catching cold. 6. Make sure your arrangements for your pets , kids (if your left them behind) and other arrangement can be easily extend. 7. Enjoy your cruise. Any thought/ other advise ?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/07/us/coronavirus-cruise-ship-new-jersey/index.html

The Japanese authorities announced that everyone on the ship will be let into port by 19-Feb so 14 day total.

Not sure if a land base would be better. On a land base most of the facilities are shared and you will have many people on in the same space . On the ship currently you have people on their own room and they are not sharing the public area , the only people that are allowed between the rooms are the crew members that suppose to use protective gear . I would agree with you if everyone would be allow everywhere on the ship. Not sure that I am aware of any medical facilities were you could isolated around 5000 people, Most of the chances they would put into some military facility sharing tents and sanitary facilities. By the way , any sick people are being moved to the hospital and are not left on the ship at all. I think that if there will be requirement to quarantine many more people some countries will confiscate cruise ships to be used as such.

And the bad newes continue . 41 more cases were identified on the ship bringing it to total of 61 . The big question is if 14 days quarantine will be enough or they will reset the count until the last infected is found .

So , the bad news is that they found 10 more people that might have the virus . People still stuck in the cabins , internet was opened to all and same for the TV. The people are getting meals to the rooms and also a supply of TP and soups. The Captain announce that they are checking if they can arrange small groups of people to go out to the sun. As much as I feel sorry for the people in the cruise I feel even more sorry for the crew members which are confine to much smaller cabins . Hope they will not find any new cases and the ship will be released soon.

You should consider the fact they only tested people that were in contact with the person with the Corona , but yes its quite alarming

For Asia cruises that might be the case , Taiwan already deny any cruise ship to enter to its ports. For other routes I do not think they will do it unless there will be a big increase of infected people in the relevant area or a Corona case in one of the ships outside Asia.

Well another good reason to always book room with balcony ... Oh and I wonder if they will get extra points for the extra nights ... I do hope they will be able to release them sooner and no new cases will found

Yes it might be the case here. Crew members are rotating all the time so every week almost you new cruise members on the ship . Also it might be people that were infected before . It will be a good test case to see the infection rate in 14 days ... For now they are getting the food delivered and also per some passengers (they got free internet and phone calls) they were asked if they need any medication (there are many seniors on this cruise). The cruise itself was 14 days. I think after this ship and the one that is being hold in Hong Kong all the cruise ships will cancel Asian cruises for the next few weeks.

Jewel of the seas April 8 2020 Western Mediterranean cruise from Italy (if the Mexican beer will allow). Anthem of the seas July 16 2021 Norwegian fjords group cruise

Not an easy situation. I believe they will find that one of the other passengers that are on the current sail had it and it's started by the passenger from the previous sail. Regarding that the food is infected , I find it hard to believe but who knows . Hope everything will be OK there and everyone will fully recover.

Good news , the couple was tested and they are not infected.

Oh sorry , yes 1 hour boat or a buss but the border can be closed very easily between the two so it's if you have outbreak at one of them they can control it if they catch it on time

Not Honk Kong but like Honk Kong , It is a territory which was controlled by Portugal and moved to China , still keep independent immigration so if you go from Hong Kong to Macau you need a passport but like Hong Kong most people can travel there without Chinese Visa . Although Macau has international airport its quite small so most people will take the ferry (1 hour travel) from Macau to Hong Kong Airport to catch a flight (there is also a bridge now between the two cities). They also have their own currency and its the only place in China which gambling is allowed so they have huge casinos.

Quick update , The couple started the travel originally from Macao ...

Short update , the port authority already clear the ship , the local city authority are the one that refuse to let them off the ship currently . Maybe they can wait few more hours until my flight will leave Italy back home ?

I tend to believe they are originally from China , first since this is what the Italian sites are saying , second since they were boarding the ship on the second port of call which mean they missed the first day I guess due to the flight cancellation from China. I guess they took the train or some other transportation to Hong Kong and catch a later flight.