Anyone getting worried about March Break Travel

[mkmommy]

My husband is paranoid about the Coronavirus, and does not think we should go on our Caribbean cruise at March Break, anyone else have similar thoughts.
We are past any refund dates and our cancellation insurance will not cover just because he is worried. (He is not going, but worried we will be exposed)

I am not too worried I figure as long as their are no travel advisories, but..

 

[Kmac19]

Hi,

We are at WDW and cruising for two weeks beginning next week with our children. I totally understand and respect your and your husband’s concerns with respect to COVID-19.

With that said, the public health risk to Canadians travelling to most destinations remains low (see PHAC guidance for more information). For now, I’m more concerned about colds and flus messing with our holiday plans (I had the latter over the holidays and was down for the count for two weeks) and have packed a medical kit to provide supportive care if required (all the pharmaceutical aids possible for respiratory infections).

I tried to provide you a link to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Qs and As but Disboards would not allow the link which it views as spam. You can easily google it if you haven’t already done so- perhaps it will be helpful to you in your deliberations.

Whatever your travel decision, I wish you well.

K

 

[damo]

It's very difficult to travel when one of the parents is that concerned. Although I think that the chances are very slim at this point of the virus being an issue for you, your husband's fears are going to really affect your enjoyment of the cruise.

If you look at the Coronavirus numbers as compared to the regular flu numbers, it is quite astounding as we don't really pay enough attention to the regular seasonal flu.

 

[Marc D]

For the moment, there is no more risk to catch Covid-19 on a Caribbean cruise then at home. There hasn’t been an outbreak either there nor in Canada. There is no reason at this time to cancel anything.

 

[bookbabe626]

I’m more worried about catching it at home getting groceries than on a trip south. We live in Markham.

 

[starvenger]

There was a lot of paranoia in Markham the past few weeks, given the number of mainland Chinese that live here. I'd say it's died down a bit though.

we're going to Great Wolf Lodge for a couple of days over the break. Not really worried outside of getting gouged on food prices.

 

[Silvermist999]

My husband is the same way, and so it looks like we will be cancelling our March break trip to WDW. Our flight cancellation fee is so high for the four of us, so this was not an easy decision. Not to mention the disappointment, especially for our kids, as we were so looking forward to this vacation.

Our main issue really is that we would be on an international flight. The last thing we want is to get a call from the airline, like those who were on the flight this week with the infected Iranian woman who flew into Montreal then to Vancouver. Of course, the risk of this happening again may be low, but for us, it is still a risk we don’t want to take.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

My husband is the same way, and so it looks like we will be cancelling our March break trip to WDW. Our flight cancellation fee is so high for the four of us, so this was not an easy decision. Not to mention the disappointment, especially for our kids, as we were so looking forward to this vacation.

Our main issue really is that we would be on an international flight. The last thing we want is to get a call from the airline, like those who were on the flight this week with the infected Iranian woman who flew into Montreal then to Vancouver. Of course, the risk of this happening again may be low, but for us, it is still a risk we don’t want to take.

I don't disagree with your choice.

Your risk inside a bubble in your house, with filtered air and with no exposure to anyone else in the world, could be technically zero. The minute you step out of that bubble and expose yourself to other people, your risk increases. The increase might only be .000000001%...but it's still greater than "no risk". I think everyone has to evaluate for themselves their own tolerance to that risk and make decisions based on that.

I am lucky that I do not have any immediate family vacation plans (August is the next one), but I have cancelled all non-essential work travel. Again, the risk is minute..possibly very close to 0 - but why expose my kids to that if I don't have to?

 

[Canadian Girl]

We booked our March break with DVC points and the Canadian park special, neither of which is refundable at this point. We are flying WJ so not an airline that is currently going anywhere with a Corona outbreak. If we feel nervous, maybe we will just spend more time relaxing and away from the parks. There have been no cases in Florida and I figure March Break is as safe there as home in Canada. Yes it is scary, but what I am seeing online on on a Canadian Corina FB group is even scarier. Lots of racial profiling and end of the world doomsayers. How would these people have survived prior to vaccinations for polio and diphtheria etc?

 

[kuhltiffany]

As long as you are washing your hands, I don't feel you need to self isolate at this point. As others have said, it can happen anywhere, just going out in public at home! Not worth cancelling life activities for. We're heading to DL and Mexico in 2 weeks, the only thing extra I'm doing is taking extra medication with us in case we're held up somewhere...

 

[quandrea]

We just got back on Tuesday. I had not been scared until my flight home. We flew air canada and had about twenty Japanese passport holding passengers on board—all masked. They were flying Orlando to Toronto and making an international connection in Toronto. I had figured a nonstop flight from Orlando to Toronto would be mostly Canadians and that any connections would be to other Canadian cities. This situation added a layer of fear.

We have two more wdw trips planned for April and June. Watching closely. Not cancelling yet, as there is risk involved just living our day to day lives. Like a pp, we may stick to the resorts in April, although we are there for run Disney, which is very crowded. We shall see. I’m dvc and wehave lots of points tied up in trips this year. It’s a year with annual passes, so we are scheduled to travel to wdw a lot.

 

[ottawamom]

From hopkinsmedicine.org this should put things in perspective.

 

[starvenger]

The flu doesn't generate clicks and page views.

 

[2Bnºoºt2B]

Whether or not to travel is not an easy choice for identifiable groups now. CNN reported last week that ... "Rampant ignorance and misinformation about the novel coronavirus, experts say, has led to racist and xenophobic attacks against fellow Americans or anyone in the US who looks East Asian" … a woman at a New York subway station was assaulted by a stranger on February 2 because she was wearing a face mask something many East Asians have done long before the coronavirus outbreak, including for protection from pollution. People are avoiding places like Panda Express … or you may get a look of concern if you start sneezing or coughing. The concern is increasing and while we may feel safe travelling within our own country, travelling across borders now will entail additional scrutiny.

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

We too have a WDW booked - we are scheduled to leave March 23 for 10 days. We are contemplating cancelling because I have a severely compromised immune system and am worried now being in a crowded area. My main concern is that we have heard (may not be accurate) that US airports have not really been testing passengers entering the US at airports. We have friends that visited Northern China when the outbreak happened in China and their flight home to Denver flew through Beijing. When they arrived at the airport in San Francisco they identified that they had been in China and flew through Beijing. The agent waved them through with no checks. The same thing happened when they finally arrived at the Denver airport. They decided to self quarantine for 14 days just in case because they were surprised that nothing was done when they arrived back in the USA. This is what I am afraid of - that someone that is affected may visit WDW that have been in the affected areas and have not properly been screened when they arrive in Orlando. Our reservations are room only so can cancel up to 5 days before check in and our flights are on Southwest out of Buffalo, so we will be able to use the credit on a future flight. We will keep watching the news and any updates to travel advisories.

 

[mort1331]

We are heading down in 2 weeks. Not worried, but thinking that if there is worry out there crowds might be a little lower. Always try to look on the bright side of life.
The industry I am in, we encounter many different things. Not too worried about going down this March Break.

 

[Pkltm]

We just got back on Tuesday. I was and am not worried at this point. It was crowded, but we did constant hand washing and no touching of the face. We have book for September already.

 

[ottawamom]

We are heading down in 2 weeks. Not worried, but thinking that if there is worry out there crowds might be a little lower. Always try to look on the bright side of life.
The industry I am in, we encounter many different things. Not too worried about going down this March Break.

I was thinking the same "lighter crowds" thing when I was talking with DH this morning about the virus and its spread.

 

[isabellea]

Wouldn’t be worried if I had a trip planned for Spring break unless I was immunocompromised (or a close member of my family). In fact, I probably have a higher chance of catching it at work since we now have a case in Montreal and that person is probably hospitalized at the hospital where I work and there are good chances my boss treated him/her this week.

 

[bcwife76]

Honestly no, not concerned. We are going to Hawaii for spring break, Aulani and the North shore of Oahu.