Over 3,500 people quarantined on Diamond Princess cruise

[Lisa F]

@Lisa F Safe travels! We are supposed to fly into WDW next month for spring break. Still sitting on the fence about cancelling our vacation. We have not found any face masks in stock around here, and actually don’t want to spend our vacation wearing them either or stressing about it.

Well as of right now no one is acting weird or alarmed. The airport vibe was totally normal (PVD). I was that jerk who took the aisle and window seat hoping to be bypassed by strangers and it worked (flying southwest) but no one around me is coughing or acting sick (which is the nightmare). So far so good! Trying to take extra measures without being nuts about it.

This is not a stressful or increased anxiety travel situation, at least from a small airport in a direct flight to Orlando.

 

[QueenElinor]

Well as of right now no one is acting weird or alarmed. The airport vibe was totally normal (PVD). I was that jerk who took the aisle and window seat hoping to be bypassed by strangers and it worked (flying southwest) but no one around me is coughing or acting sick (which is the nightmare). So far so good! Trying to take extra measures without being nuts about it.

This is not a stressful or increased anxiety travel situation, at least from a small airport in a direct flight to Orlando.

I've got one son flying home next week, and he's not planning to wear a mask, he'd have to shave his beard for it to be effective, lol. Not worth it flying from Amarillo to Montana, I don't think.

On the other hand, I've got another son flying from the DC area next month. I've already sent masks to him. Things can change fairly quickly in this situation, and that's a different route.

 

[monkeydawn]

Money not being an issue like it seemed to be for this guy. I'd rather be hanging out in a hotel in Japan than imprisoned at a US military base. I think the guy in question knew the risks and was OK with it.

There are 60 other Americans that made the same choice. So there has to be something that they saw about the evacuation that was more worrisome than staying. I know far more than 61 evacuated but people only keep talking about Matt as if its just him that choose to stay and it isnt.

 

[smmco]

He knew he wouldn’t be able to fly straight home before he made his decision -he was told March 4 at the earliest. I think he knew he’d be touring Japan for two weeks - clearly finances and returning to work are not concerning him. He seems content with his decision.

Most of us don’t have those luxuries and would have evacuated.

Those that evacuated aren't able to return to work either. You don't necessarily have to wealthy to afford a couple of weeks in a hotel. I would assume anyone that can afford to fly to Japan for a two-week cruise is doing Ok financially.

 

[Lisa F]

Those that evacuated aren't able to return to work either. You don't necessarily have to wealthy to afford a couple of weeks in a hotel. I would assume anyone that can afford to fly to Japan for a two-week cruise is doing Ok financially.

I could afford it if I had to but being out of work that long would be tough.

I don't typically take my work laptop to Disney as it's the one time of the year I unplug BUT this time I did. It was a zero effort zero cost way to protect myself against being stuck if things go pear shaped while I am on my cruise. Also it has kept away the anxiety about a worse case scenario... I'm super logical most of the time but anxiety doesn't always listen. Do I think it's possible? Not really. Even less so now that I'm "prepared" such as that is... Because we all know the world revolves around me. It also rains because I wash my car.

 

[suedon70]

Well as of right now no one is acting weird or alarmed. The airport vibe was totally normal (PVD)

This is not a stressful or increased anxiety travel situation, at least from a small airport in a direct flight to Orlando.

That's good. You might see more people wearing surgical masks at MCO - we did when my DD and I flew last Saturday from MCO to LGA for a quick fun weekend in NYC. No real coughing and hacking on either of our flights thank goodness!

 

[Kennywood]

Two elderly cruise ship passengers with coronavirus who were on Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess have died, according to Japan’s health ministry, the Associated Press has confirmed.

Source: USA Today - 02-20-20

 

[Lisa F]

That's good. You might see more people wearing surgical masks at MCO - we did when my DD and I flew last Saturday from MCO to LGA for a quick fun weekend in NYC. No real coughing and hacking on either of our flights thank goodness!

Not a single mask at MCO!

 

[pezgirlroy]

I am flying with my young kids on Saturday. My youngest is 3 and is in daycare so of course she has a cold with a cough because she is 3 and in daycare and in winter in NH. So hopefully people will understand that.

 

[monkeydawn]

I am flying with my young kids on Saturday. My youngest is 3 and is in daycare so of course she has a cold with a cough because she is 3 and in daycare and in winter in NH. So hopefully people will understand that.

I feel for you, really I do. That's not fun without the worry of denied boarding. I have this same fear for my upcoming trip (but for me). But anyone could lie and say the same thing (just a cold, no know exposure). Its a tough spot for anyone to be in ATM. Im sorry.

 

[MrMichaelJames]

I've got one son flying home next week, and he's not planning to wear a mask, he'd have to shave his beard for it to be effective, lol. Not worth it flying from Amarillo to Montana, I don't think.

On the other hand, I've got another son flying from the DC area next month. I've already sent masks to him. Things can change fairly quickly in this situation, and that's a different route.

You do know the masks won't help any. The virus is smaller than that mask fibers. Only thing a mask does is if the person wearing it is coughing it catches the water particles but as far as using a mask to help preventing getting it, it doesn't help and is just a waste of time.

 

[Karin1984]

I am flying with my young kids on Saturday. My youngest is 3 and is in daycare so of course she has a cold with a cough because she is 3 and in daycare and in winter in NH. So hopefully people will understand that.

Unless you are on a flight FROM Asia I wouldn't worry too much. For the majority of the people it's business as usual and won't think about the virus. If they will avoid you and your child, then that's probably because they don't want to catch a cold. Or just being annoyed by young children on a flight, as you never know how well a child can handle a flight.

What you see on boards like this is that people are feeding each other and making each other crazy. Here we are invested, but outside these boards there are so many people who do not think about this news.
Today at lunch, I work for an airline, we didn't talk about the virus as something to fear, but what a great time it is to use your staff tickets (which are always on standby) to travel to Hong Kong, those flights are cheap and empty now! If it wasn't for that Disneyland Hong Kong is closed, I would be on a flight now ;-)

Every day I travel by train to work, I transfer at the airport to catch the bus to the office. The amount of passengers and tourists I see with masks or other protective items, are 1 out of 500, I guess I encounter about 500 people when I walk around. And I guess that's not more or less than before the virus, it's an Asian custom to wear a mask when you are sick and have to travel, so I was used to seeing masks before this.

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

Not specifically cruise related, but just got back from a 5 day trip to Disneyland. We washed hands constantly, wiped down surfaces with disinfectant wipes, used hand sanitizer, and I still picked up a cold that wiped me out and I had to spend a lot of our last day in the hotel room. Sick people were EVERYWHERE. I have never heard so many people coughing. At no point was I concerned I had picked up coronavirus. This is just a tough time of year to travel. On the way home the lady in front of me coughed and sniffled the entire flight. Sigh.

 

[QueenElinor]

You do know the masks won't help any. The virus is smaller than that mask fibers. Only thing a mask does is if the person wearing it is coughing it catches the water particles but as far as using a mask to help preventing getting it, it doesn't help and is just a waste of time.

That's only true regarding regular surgical masks. They're for people who are sick, but they won't stop a person from becoming sick.

I have n95 masks, which are quite effective against SARS-COV2. In fact there was a good study out just yesterday that confirmed that. The thing about these masks, is a person does have to make sure they fit, but they do come in different sizes. And you can't take them off on the flight, which is annoying, especially if you get free drinks.

Not specifically cruise related, but just got back from a 5 day trip to Disneyland. We washed hands constantly, wiped down surfaces with disinfectant wipes, used hand sanitizer, and I still picked up a cold that wiped me out and I had to spend a lot of our last day in the hotel room. Sick people were EVERYWHERE. I have never heard so many people coughing. At no point was I concerned I had picked up coronavirus. This is just a tough time of year to travel. On the way home the lady in front of me coughed and sniffled the entire flight. Sigh.

I'm sorry you got sick. There have been numerous viruses around this winter, and the flu vaccine has been less than stellar this season. Hopefully all of these viruses pipe down so the noise-to-signal ratio isn't too high if there is a coronavirus outbreak in the US.

 

[MrMichaelJames]

That's only true regarding regular surgical masks. They're for people who are sick, but they won't stop a person from becoming sick.

I have n95 masks, which are quite effective against SARS-COV2. In fact there was a good study out just yesterday that confirmed that. The thing about these masks, is a person does have to make sure they fit, but they do come in different sizes. And you can't take them off on the flight, which is annoying, especially if you get free drinks.

Yes absolutely. I just haven't heard of anyone wasting their money on the n95 masks due to the difficulty in putting them on correctly and breathing through them. I would be worried about the airline crew refusing you to board if you went up to them in one of those.

 

[QueenElinor]

Yes absolutely. I just haven't heard of anyone wasting their money on the n95 masks due to the difficulty in putting them on correctly and breathing through them. I would be worried about the airline crew refusing you to board if you went up to them in one of those.

The person in question will be traveling a month from now. I think by then masks of all kinds will be quite common everywhere you look, just like they have been in Asia for years.

Also, I myself take immunosuppressants so I don't have to justify it to anyone for any reason courtesy of the ADA. I don't really have any travel plans right now, but even if I did I wouldn't wear one just yet.

PS. It's my money to waste. I've definitely bought dumber things over the years.

 

[Karin1984]

The person in question will be traveling a month from now. I think by then masks of all kinds will be quite common everywhere you look, just like they have been in Asia for years.

Also, I myself take immunosuppressants so I don't have to justify it to anyone for any reason courtesy of the ADA.

PS. It's my money to waste. I've definitely bought dumber things over the years.

Can you report back in a month I think maybe a few more people will wear masks, but not a lot. Instead of 1 per flight maybe 2 or 3.

 

[QueenElinor]

Can you report back in a month I think maybe a few more people will wear masks, but not a lot. Instead of 1 per flight maybe 2 or 3.

It all depends on how things go, doesn't it? Maybe no one will, maybe a lot of people will, and maybe flights will be grounded. Anyway, it doesn't hurt to have a good mask in one's pocket.

I always tell my kids to make sure they travel with $100 cash, a fully charged cell phone and a credit card. Honestly, they're doing great if they manage 2 of 3 so I don't know what they'll do with 4. Which reminds me of this:

Phone, wallet, Keys

Really hilarious, if y'all haven't already seen it. (NSFW)

 

[otten]

And now the Washington Post is claiming that US government officials insisted on evacuating infected Diamond Princess passengers on the same flight as negative-testing ones against CDC advice.

This is what I meant earlier when I said that a lot of decisions aren't being made by the experts in epidemiology.

 

[afan]

Not specifically cruise related, but just got back from a 5 day trip to Disneyland. We washed hands constantly, wiped down surfaces with disinfectant wipes, used hand sanitizer, and I still picked up a cold that wiped me out and I had to spend a lot of our last day in the hotel room. Sick people were EVERYWHERE. I have never heard so many people coughing. At no point was I concerned I had picked up coronavirus. This is just a tough time of year to travel. On the way home the lady in front of me coughed and sniffled the entire flight. Sigh.

Sadly I'm amazed any more when I can travel somewhere and not get sick while there or once I'm home. The number of people that don't cover their mouth when they sneeze and cough astounds me from little kids to adults. I get the toddlers but wish the parents would do more.

I can often trace back getting sick to the person not covering their mouth which is frustrating. I can keep it from getting bad with airborne but it doesn't stop me from getting at least a little sick.. Keeping my fingers crossed for dlr in 2 weeks.