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

[Kevin Liu]

We are cancelling our August 2020 cruise on the Fantasy.

Was going to be our first cruise on DCL, so we're disappointed, but for the amount of money we were spending on a concierge cabin it made sense not to risk it.

 

[pezgirlroy]

As of now we are still not cancelling our end of April cruise on the Fantasy. We will continue to monitor but as of now still going (same for a cruise in August).

 

[freshmanjs]

As of now we are still not cancelling our end of April cruise on the Fantasy. We will continue to monitor but as of now still going (same for a cruise in August).

We are set to sail on the Fantasy next Saturday (March 7). Not planning to cancel, partly because I don't think we have an option to do so without major penalty and partly because we think it will be fine.

 

[ElisainNYC]

Agh. We are end of March. In 3 weeks. We are a 50/50. I believe we have an insurance that allows some option to reschedule within a year. (Though I think we only get 75% of what we paid on it-- that's a %25 penalty.) This landscape is changing so quickly... I think we'll wait until the last minute to do so, since we're so close, unless of anyone can think of a reason to do it earlier than last minute?? (But with just an oceanview and no veranda, I can't imagine it'll be much fun if we all get stuck in quarantine. Eek.)

 

[hnthomps]

Agh. We are end of March. In 3 weeks. We are a 50/50. I believe we have an insurance that allows some option to reschedule within a year. (Though I think we only get 75% of what we paid on it-- that's a %25 penalty.) This landscape is changing so quickly... I think we'll wait until the last minute to do so, since we're so close, unless of anyone can think of a reason to do it earlier than last minute?? (But with just an oceanview and no veranda, I can't imagine it'll be much fun if we all get stuck in quarantine. Eek.)

We sail the 21st and plan to leave it until last minute. We have two days at WDW first, so I suppose if the cruise is cancelled (highly unlikely!) we'd try to stay there longer and make the best of it (without ADRs and FPs, but hey). But at this point - it's too late to cancel without penalty (without a reason), and also too late to choose a different vacation (and we have relatives meeting us for different portions, so it's not just us).
As someone said, 8 days on the Fantasy with no ports could still be fun, it's just the small risk of being stuck in our stateroom with small kids that scares me. However, given the way that worked out before, I suspect they'd find a different way to quarantine us should that be necessary (i.e. bring us back to the US)

 

[amylevan]

The US is definitely under-reporting. We aren't testing anyone and then saying we have no cases. Korea has tested over 30,000 people. The USA has tested fewer than 500. The response we've chosen in the USA is bury our heads and try to prop up the stock market.

Let’s say we are underreported and there are cases. We are not experiencing a particularly deadly flu season and no reports of pneumonia deaths being unusually high. So if it is in the wild here in US, it’s not causing any problems different than our usual cold and flu season. In which case, what is there to worry about?

 

[freshmanjs]

Let’s say we are underreported and there are cases. We are not experiencing a particularly deadly flu season and no reports of pneumonia deaths being unusually high. So if it is in the wild here in US, it’s not causing any problems different that our usual cold and flu season. In which case, what is there to worry about?

TBD...incubation period is 2 weeks and a lot of the cases that got severe took 8-10 days to become severe. So, the answer to your question is maybe nothing, but it hasn't been enough time to say.

 

[AquaDame]

Let’s say we are underreported and there are cases. We are not experiencing a particularly deadly flu season and no reports of pneumonia deaths being unusually high. So if it is in the wild here in US, it’s not causing any problems different than our usual cold and flu season. In which case, what is there to worry about?

It's still in the early stages I guess. Once it is truly spreading it has a greater chance to affect more of our elderly and infirm, who are the most likely to find the disease fatal. The people bringing it in probably swing younger and more able bodied if they are jet setting - I'm a bit worried what happens once it's spreading to greater numbers of those at home. How many times does a fatal case of flu make the news in any case? I only hear when a particularly young child dies and even then only rarely compared to the number of lives lost in a season. Just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean the numbers won't be posted at the end of the year. I'm not saying that to be doom and gloom mind you, but I don't think its fine just because we haven't heard much about it yet.

I trust Disney with a lot of things, but I don't see how they can contain something like a virus better. If noro gets onboard they have to deal with it as any other line would. If we had another cruise booked this year we'd probably go but we're middle aged and healthy - if we catch it odds are in our favor we'd be sick awhile and then get better. Id there was a vaccine for it we'd take it as we do other diseases too. It'll be interesting to see what all the cruise lines choose to do if ports continue to deny entry once the disease is more prevalent.

 

[Ccll4]

Possibility of being quarantined in my Stateroom for 24 hours a day with young kids or teenagers? NO WAY!!!

 

[SamFaniam]

How many times does a fatal case of flu make the news in any case?

This is so true. There have been a number of flu deaths in our area this year, but only one made the news because it was a young adult who was otherwise healthy. Local doctors encouraged people to take the flu seriously, as I think most considered it only dangerous if you were elderly or had other health issues.

 

[monkeydawn]

Let’s say we are underreported and there are cases. We are not experiencing a particularly deadly flu season and no reports of pneumonia deaths being unusually high. So if it is in the wild here in US, it’s not causing any problems different than our usual cold and flu season. In which case, what is there to worry about?

My biggest concern ATM is the study from 2 days ago which pointed to changes in the lung tissue of many COVID-19 cases, including those that were asymptomatic. I'm too young to lose some lung functionality, whats scarier is I may not even know its happened until some point down the line where I develop a complication. There are things about this disease that are different from other things we have dealt with in the past. I feel its better to confront head on and to know what we are actually dealing with rather than stick our heads in the sand. This way, if we find out relaibly that having COVID-19 make you more vulnerable to something else we know to be on the lookout.

That said, I do know that reliable testing has been an issue so Im not sure how much better our capabilities could be. Certainly the case in CA should have been handled better.

 

[JARNJ3]

Not cancelling our 3 night cruise in May. I am presuming if it gets bad, Disney will cancel them when necessary. The last thing they want are their ships in quarantine.

Part of me wishes I'd catch it now, then recover & get it over with!

 

[JARNJ3]

Not cancelling our 3 night cruise in May. I am presuming if it gets bad, Disney will cancel them when necessary. The last thing they want are their ships in quarantine.

Part of me wishes I'd catch it now, then recover & get it over with!

Ok - maybe I don't want to catch it all -- though, the current stats show only 81% having serious lung issues:

https://www.healthline.com/health-n...to-the-body-after-contracting-the-coronavirus

 

[monkeydawn]

Part of me wishes I'd catch it now, then recover & get it over with!

NOT the way this is working. You can get it multiple times.

 

[JARNJ3]

NOT the way this is working. You can get it multiple times.

Wow - that is crazy. I'd have to presume, each time would be milder? As your immune system builds up anti-bodies?

 

[anjuan]

We sail the 21st and plan to leave it until last minute. We have two days at WDW first, so I suppose if the cruise is cancelled (highly unlikely!) we'd try to stay there longer and make the best of it (without ADRs and FPs, but hey). But at this point - it's too late to cancel without penalty (without a reason), and also too late to choose a different vacation (and we have relatives meeting us for different portions, so it's not just us).
As someone said, 8 days on the Fantasy with no ports could still be fun, it's just the small risk of being stuck in our stateroom with small kids that scares me. However, given the way that worked out before, I suspect they'd find a different way to quarantine us should that be necessary (i.e. bring us back to the US)

We're on this cruise as well. I think we'll all just have to wait and see what happens. I was talking to my teenager about it and she said that she wouldn't mind being quarantined on the ship. Then I pointed out to her that if that was the case she wouldn't be able to hang out with her friends on the ship and would only be in a stateroom all day with me. Her response then was, "Heck NOO!" LOL

 

[SamFaniam]

Wow - that is crazy. I'd have to presume, each time would be milder? As your immune system builds up anti-bodies?

Nope, like the flu, coronaviruses mutate.

 

[smmco]

This is unfortunately true. They haven't been testing. Sounds like the horse has been out of the barn for some time. That's that. You can't say we don't have the virus here if you haven't been testing for it. I found this just a few minutes ago, from NPR...


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has apparently resolved a problem that has hindered testing for the new coronavirus, NPR has learned.
There has been a bottleneck in testing for the coronavirus because of problems with the test kits the CDC has distributed to labs around the United States

I’ve taken care of a lot patients with ARDS this Winter that were negative for the flu. Maybe they had Corona maybe I’ve had it. Everyone in my family including me has had a few mild cold/flu like illness this Winter. Since we’re not testing who knows.
I’m old enough to remember the swine flu pandemic of 2009. There’s was a lot of panic over that and then things seem to mellow out after a month or so. The economy was already bad and the stock market had already tanked in 2008 so I don’t think it made it any worse.

 

[stowe75]

We are also on the 3/21/2020 sailing....past the point of no return. I am not so much worried about getting the virus as I am being stuck on a ship for 2 weeks. or more. Is that covered under FMLA This does help my argument to my husband as to why we always at least get a verandah room. Maybe save any carried on alcohol until you are well into the cruise just in case! And bring lots of books and reading material. I would imagine if it became a real threat or risk of outbreak Disney and other cruise lines would cancel and refund. Which means a week with my parents in Florida since the plane tickets are purchased...that might be worse than a 2 week quarantine. Maybe I should remind my husband of that I guess the next few weeks will be telling.

 

[tankin]

We're scheduled to travel on the Magic in May / June. Short answer for me is that I'm not barricading myself inside the house and no one has shown that there's any higher risk in Spain or France than the US (currently higher in Italy but I'm willing to bet they'll be a itinerary change it that doesn't change in the next 3 months). Right now there's a lot of media hype (if it bleeds, it leads) but the last set of numbers I looked at put flu deaths in the US much higher than corona world wide...