PG Cruiser Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 With the coronavirus now in Italy, how will cruises with stops there be affected? I have friends sailing on the Allure in May with several stops at Italian ports. As I have mentioned in another post, the fear of the virus is a secondary concern. It’s more about the hassles of cancellations, itinerary changes, delays, and quarantine procedures. The Yokohama situation is daunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princevaliantus Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 28 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said: With the coronavirus now in Italy, how will cruises with stops there be affected? I have friends sailing on the Allure in May with several stops at Italian ports. As I have mentioned in another post, the fear of the virus is a secondary concern. It’s more about the hassles of cancellations, itinerary changes, delays, and quarantine procedures. The Yokohama situation is daunting. As of now, only the northern cities are affected and shut down such as Venice and Milan. Royal will be keeping their guest apprised of the situation should any changes occur. You can also keep yourself well informed by visiting the CDC site on international travel warnings to give you a heads up on the spread of this virus so you can decide on what you would like to do. NEbluebird 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 Its a nightmare for those that have cruises booked over there. Its not a simple 3hr flight that needs to be changed in most cases if the cruise is cancelled. No one know what will happen with this virus....but even over in Asia, Royal still isn't cancelling cruises very far out at the moment which makes it tough to say the least. I wouldn't want to be in that situation right now. With large outbreaks now as well in South Korea and random cases popping up here even in Canada, I think its going to be awhile before the tourism industry gets back to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 @PG Cruiser, have your friends purchased trip insurance with good cancellation / interruption coverage? They'll definitely want a policy that will cover airfare, hotel stays that might be needed, lost cost of the cruise not covered by the cruise line, etc. Probably also a very good idea to make sure it includes a large medical coverage amount as well, just in case one of them is unlucky enough to get sick due to accidental exposure. One thing that hasn't been discussed about this virus yet (quite probably because no one actually knows yet) is whether it will have the same seasonality as the flu, given that it's so flu-like in many other regards. If it is seasonal, then by May it might have quieted down. Regardless, a good trip insurance policy is a must for any travel in affected regions. NEbluebird and PG Cruiser 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveler Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 I have a cruise from Rome at beginning of April , although the cruise is from Rome I guess many people from north Italy will join. Two of the ports are considered to be in north of Italy were some countries already encourage people not to travel to. As I recommended to others before (for Asia cruises) I am not going to change anything now , will wait for RC to do their move as if I will cancel , I will not get anything. I also bought a good insurance that might cover some of my expenses. Since the ship is a small ship (JOS) I guess RC might even consider to change the embarkation port to Barcelona , maybe add more Spanish ports. For Allure on May , if the situation will continue to be problematic they might need to cancel as 3 out of the port are in Italy and there are very few ports that can handle Oasis class ships, the alternate will be to add more sea days , but who comes to Europe cruise for the sea days ? Lets all hope the virus will gone when weather will improve and everyone will recover soon WAAAYTOOO, DDemuth and Ogilthorpe 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FManke Posted February 25, 2020 Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 This is definitely on my mind. Although it is still more than 7mos away until we will sail from Venice on our Greek Isle cruise, anything can happen in the mean time. Good or bad. Too early to worry, but not too early to be concerned. NEbluebird 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDemuth Posted February 25, 2020 Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 On 2/24/2020 at 3:10 PM, Traveler said: For Allure on May , if the situation will continue to be problematic they might need to cancel as 3 out of the port are in Italy and there are very few ports that can handle Oasis class ships, the alternate will be to add more sea days , but who comes to Europe cruise for the sea days ? Similar situation for us; Allure in July for the western Mediterranean. No worries now; so much can change between now and then. It is not known if SARS-CoV-2 is seasonal and might subside as the weather warms; the first potential vaccine was just sent to the NIAID for testing and other big Pharma are working feverishly to develop vaccine candidates; the virus has been cultured by the CDC and recently been made available to the scientific community, so better information on viral stability, efficiency of infection, etc. will be forthcoming in the near future. So my plan is to wait this out and already have a good insurance policy if problems still exist in July. We shall see. Traveler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted February 25, 2020 Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 16 minutes ago, DDemuth said: So my plan is to wait this out and already have a good insurance policy if problems still exist in July. We shall see. I think this is a very sound position. Regarding the insurance...I haven't had the guts to check mine yet...but I read somewhere that some of the policies exclude things like pandemics. I hate trying to read an insurance policy so I have just ignored this issue....hopefully if I have to use it, it will be covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenCP Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 Most insurance companies will cover you if you get sick, not because you do not want to travel unfortunately. If it becomes a pandemic then 95% of the insurance policies will not cover you. WAAAYTOOO and NEbluebird 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDemuth Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 45 minutes ago, KenCP said: Most insurance companies will cover you if you get sick, not because you do not want to travel unfortunately. If it becomes a pandemic then 95% of the insurance policies will not cover you. Our position is not to cancel; too many variables. But if the pandemic scenario plays out, then RCI may likely cancel cruises (or maybe should) and our insurance should cover that. Our policy also covers changes in itineraries prior to departure, so even if the cruise goes and ports are changed, we can get some compensation and enjoy a few sea days. And pandemic simply means that the virus is being community spread worldwide. This may or may not impact how RCI responds. To me, worst case scenario is to cancel after final payment before RCI decides what their position is. KenCP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveler Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 13 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said: I think this is a very sound position. Regarding the insurance...I haven't had the guts to check mine yet...but I read somewhere that some of the policies exclude things like pandemics. I hate trying to read an insurance policy so I have just ignored this issue....hopefully if I have to use it, it will be covered. If it will come pandemic RCI will cancel the cruise and will give you the money back , airline also will wave the change fee (at least that is what they have done until now) the only problematic situation will be if RCI will cancel but you will feel not comfortable to travel . Ogilthorpe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted February 26, 2020 Report Share Posted February 26, 2020 13 hours ago, DDemuth said: But if the pandemic scenario plays out, then RCI may likely cancel cruises If Royal cancels your cruise, it doesn't matter the reason that they do so. That's considered a cancellation by a common carrier and insurance will cover it. They won't double indemnify you, meaning that if Royal gives you money back they won't pay out as well, but anything you booked that was non-refundable that you don't receive some compensation for should be covered per the terms of the insurance policy. Basically you can't decide to cancel the cruise because you're worried about a pandemic and expect the insurance to pay for the decision that you made if the policy excludes pandemics. @DDemuth has the right idea to stick it out and wait and see what decisions Royal makes. You just have to think through what a cancellation would mean for you as far as the other components of your trip (getting to/from the embarkation/debarkation ports, etc.) and have an idea or plans in place for an alternate vacation if the cruise gets scrapped last minute even. It's not ideal for anyone involved, even the cruiseline, but everyone has to make the best decisions they can for themselves and their families. Ogilthorpe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Blake Posted March 11, 2020 Report Share Posted March 11, 2020 I am also booked on the JOS on April 8th. We are now going out of Athens, Greece. Just waiting to see what RC does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypno3 Posted March 12, 2020 Report Share Posted March 12, 2020 My travel agent just informed me that RC have cancelled all med cruises till May. Ours leaves Rome 30th August - hoping things have improved by then ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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