My Vacation Cruise in Asia during the Wuhan Flu Scare

[Copernicus]

There are a few reports of contagion before symptoms show up, but that also happens with common cold viruses and influenza. The issue, I suppose, is that the incubation period can be up to 14 days before symptoms show, and there is a fear that infected people can spread contamination without even knowing they are sick.

Right now, we are still debating whether to go to Singapore. The number of cases are higher there than in most other places outside of China, but infection rates are still very low in comparison to previous epidemics.

 

[Copernicus]

We boarded the ship in Singapore yesterday and are on the first day of the cruise. Singapore itself was missing the crowded streets, since a lot of tourists have stayed away and citizens are not doing a lot of shopping. The embarkation lounge was totally empty when we arrived shortly after noon. The hall was filled with attendants, who would normally manage the crowds. We got a lot of attention and assistance.

We are now told that only about 150 passengers came aboard, although the ship can take about 800. This is the smallest number of passengers that they have ever had, and the ship feels almost empty. It is a little like having your own private ship-sized yacht with unlimited food, drinks, and entertainment. One of the speakers this morning was a marine biologist, Michael Despazio, who has authored lots of science books for children and been involved in a number of science projects. Another was a former top diplomat in the British government during Theresa May's tenure. So the experience is almost what one would normally get on a Crystal cruise, but without the normal crowd.

In a couple of days, we will (hopefully) dock at Chan Mai, Vietnam, where we will take an excursion into Hue. On Friday, the Vietnamese government turned away two cruise ships, but our ship has not yet been told that it would be denied entry. After a couple of days, we move on for a three-day stop in Saigon. On the previous cruise from Guam to Singapore (a change from the scheduled destination of Hong Kong, where we were originally supposed to embark), not a single port would allow the ship to dock, even though it had no infected passengers onboard. So the captain and crew have had a lot of experience with that sort of thing. At one port, they actually did not know they would be denied entry until they were within an hour of arrival.

 

[barbos]

I will miss you.

 

[Copernicus]

I will miss you.

Unlikely, since our chances of exposure are so low now. Instead, we have a largely empty cruise ship will full services--superb cuisine in a variety of restaurants, an open bar, great live entertainment and enrichment lectures, and plenty of time to relax. We are now told that there are only 120 paying passengers, so the cruise line is taking a huge loss just to ferry us around for a couple of weeks. Most of the food gets dumped, since there aren't enough people to consume it all. We don't know whether any ports will let us dock, but, TBH, our primary interest was the onboard experience, less so the ports.

We've never been to Hue, but the ship will dock at Chan Mai, which is at least an hour's drive closer. They have at least two tour buses booked to go there, so we will see it, if Vietnam does not refuse us entry. So far, this is a far more stress-free, enjoyable cruise than we anticipated. We are getting to meet a lot of crew members, many of whom are Ukrainian. There are also a few Russians. So I am getting a chance to practice my Russian and a couple of other languages.

ETA: As compensation for showing up, the company is giving us back half of what we paid on a future cruise credit (FCC). Those who elected not to come, got a full 100% FCC, but ours is obviously the better bargain. Not only do we get this very interesting experience, but we will get a substantial discount on our next cruise with this company.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Glad this is working out for you two. Hopefully the food and what not is as good as it would have been. 150 people is still a good deal of people to cook for, so they hopefully aren't bologna and cheesing it for you.

 

[southernhybrid]

I'm glad that you're enjoying the cruise, especially since the ship is so empty. I hope the rest of your vacation goes well. You are certainly adventurous.

 

[Copernicus]

Glad this is working out for you two. Hopefully the food and what not is as good as it would have been. 150 people is still a good deal of people to cook for, so they hopefully aren't bologna and cheesing it for you.

Crystal is one of the best cruise lines in its category for food, and I haven't noticed any change in quality or quantity. They have curtailed services for some venues, e.g. alternating nights for a couple of restaurants.

I'm glad that you're enjoying the cruise, especially since the ship is so empty. I hope the rest of your vacation goes well. You are certainly adventurous.

Even with an empty ship, most people seem to attend the activities, and the energy in the audience can be lively. We have one guest science lecturer, marine biologist  Michael A. DiSpezio, who is very entertaining and informative on a wide range of subjects. The other, Ambassador Sir  Mark Lyall Grant, gives lectures on world and regional history and politics. He served under Cameron and May, so he has a lot of first hand impressions of personalities and US-UK politics. The evening entertainment is first rate. So the only strangeness is that most of the ship seems empty between events. The events themselves are the same as when the ship is full, but there are no lines or difficulties in finding a seat where one's vision isn't blocked. Also, you get to interact a lot with guest entertainers, lecturers, and ship personnel. On the whole, I am very glad that I did not chicken out, like the main herd did. And the company is giving us a 50% future cruise credit just for showing up.

We are optimistic about getting to see the old imperial capital of Hue tomorrow. Everyone has been given entry cards. After that, we make our way to Ho Chi Minh City for three days. Ultimately, we may be refused docking at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, but there is nothing for us to do there anyway. That is where the Westerdam was disembarked a few days ago, under the assumption that it had no sick passengers. In fact, one of the passengers tested positive at the airport, so now international authorities are scrambling to test other passengers who left the ship. Very embarrassing for local authorities, who let the ship dock when nobody else would. Hence, they may feel compelled to turn away all cruises ships. We'll find out.

 

[Copernicus]

I'll post pictures at a later time, when I have more time and a real computer.

Hue was beautiful, but everywhere is a bit deserted without all the Chinese and other tourists. We visited the Mekong River delta yesterday, which was the highlight of the trip so far.

Our Crystal cruise ship has finally decided to cancel its remaining Asia tours, so our ship will likely be the last cruise ship to visit Vietnam this season. We are in Saigon now, but we leave for A stop on Kosamui Thailand tomorrow. After that, we stop at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, before returning to Singapore. The ship feels very much like a luxurious private yacht party. Bizarre, but an interesting experience that won't likely happen again. The cruise industry has suffered a tremendous blow from this epidemic scare, but so has the entire Asian economy. I don't see how we avoid a worldwide economic slowdown as the effects on the tourist industry ripple through the economy. Shops and markets everywhere are practically deserted now.

 

[4321lynx]

I'll post pictures at a later time, when I have more time and a real computer.

Hue was beautiful, but everywhere is a bit deserted without all the Chinese and other tourists. We visited the Mekong River delta yesterday, which was the highlight of the trip so far.

Our Crystal cruise ship has finally decided to cancel its remaining Asia tours, so our ship will likely be the last cruise ship to visit Vietnam this season. We are in Saigon now, but we leave for A stop on Kosamui Thailand tomorrow. After that, we stop at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, before returning to Singapore. The ship feels very much like a luxurious private yacht party. Bizarre, but an interesting experience that won't likely happen again. The cruise industry has suffered a tremendous blow from this epidemic scare, but so has the entire Asian economy. I don't see how we avoid a worldwide economic slowdown as the effects on the tourist industry ripple through the economy. Shops and markets everywhere are practically deserted now.

You cannot live forever by taking in each other's dirty laundry, or by gaping at one another's "tourist treasures".

 

[bilby]

I'll post pictures at a later time, when I have more time and a real computer.

Hue was beautiful, but everywhere is a bit deserted without all the Chinese and other tourists. We visited the Mekong River delta yesterday, which was the highlight of the trip so far.

Our Crystal cruise ship has finally decided to cancel its remaining Asia tours, so our ship will likely be the last cruise ship to visit Vietnam this season. We are in Saigon now, but we leave for A stop on Kosamui Thailand tomorrow. After that, we stop at Sihanoukville, Cambodia, before returning to Singapore. The ship feels very much like a luxurious private yacht party. Bizarre, but an interesting experience that won't likely happen again. The cruise industry has suffered a tremendous blow from this epidemic scare, but so has the entire Asian economy. I don't see how we avoid a worldwide economic slowdown as the effects on the tourist industry ripple through the economy. Shops and markets everywhere are practically deserted now.

You cannot live forever by taking in each other's dirty laundry, or by gaping at one another's "tourist treasures".

You can't live forever by trading electronics back and forth either.

But Apple is nevertheless a very successful corporation, and has generated vast wealth.

No one industry, service, or activity - except subsistence farming - can meet your (rather bizarre) criterion. Tourism is a service industry that forms one small part of the world economy, and like most industries, some locations, regions, and nations do more of it than others.

Silicon valley would be an economic disaster area, if concentrating on one non-subsistence activity were somehow a bad idea in and of itself.

 

[Rhea]

Sounds like you are having fun! What a unique experience.

 

[Copernicus]

Sounds like you are having fun! What a unique experience.

Absolutely. My wife and I are really glad that we decided to go, although we won't be so happy if we do manage to become infected. The risk still seems small relative to all the reaction and panic found in news headlines. Since 16 passengers will get off the ship for a side excursion to Angkor Wat for two days, we will be down to just over 100 paying passengers. Some of us have been calling it a "ghost ship", but it has been a great opportunity to meet the crew and get to know them better than we normally would. One bonus for them is that they get to eat all the gourmet food that we can't consume. Most of the food stock onboard will simply be dumped or given away.

 

[Rhea]

Looking for more trip blogging!

 

[Amelia]

My Vacation Cruise in Asia during the Wuhan Flu Scare


Seems like going to have a terrible story to read but i have a worth reading. Be safe have fun, like is precious.

 

[Copernicus]

Since the cruise reported on in this thread, my wife and I had not traveled on a cruise ship or attempted to book a cruise until recently. Most cruise lines appear to have survived by offering cruises that subsequently got cancelled. Since customers had to put money down to book a cruise, that money had to be refunded or turned into "future cruise credit" when the cruise got cancelled during the pandemic. So cruise lines were partially surviving on these bookings as a form of interest-free loan.

Now many cruise lines are offering actual cruises again, and we decided to book a cruise from Seattle to Alaska. This was on the Princess Majestic and left for a 7-day cruise (Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan). Although we much prefer smaller ships, we were able to book a fairly inexpensive balcony cabin with a full drink package. Although we had never booked a Princess cruise before, Alaska is one of the routes that they specialize in. We had been to Alaska twice before, so we really didn't plan to get off at the ports. This was just to enjoy the ship and see what they had to offer. Besides, we only had to take an Uber from our house to the ship.

Health safety was a big concern of ours, but all passengers and crew had to be vaccinated and wear masks while inside. I felt safer on the ship than in a local supermarket, where there are always some customers these days who want to pretend that the pandemic is over. On the ship, we only removed masks in our cabin or while eating/drinking. Compliance was nearly perfect among passengers, although most people were lax about social distancing.

The greatest health safety challenge was actually our Uber trip from home to the port. The young driver popped out of his car with his nose hanging over his mask, so my wife asked him to adjust it. After we got in his car and were on the road, he told us that he was unvaccinated and proceeded to harangue us for the entire trip about his reasons for why he felt justified in not getting vaccinated. He said he wanted to hear out side of the story, but he would barely stop talking to let us get a word in edgewise. Naturally, we lodged a complaint with Uber, but I soon learned that both Lyft and Uber have made a conscious decision not to require their drivers to be vaccinated. They apparently do that because drivers are now hard to attract for them, but I suggested they simply let passengers know whether a potential driver was vaccinated. I do not believe that they have any interest in adopting my suggestion. They don't want passengers to shop around for vaccinated drivers. Needless to say, Uber apologized profusely and said that that driver would never be linked to us in the future. On our way back from the port today, our Lyft driver volunteered the information that he was vaccinated, so we felt safer with him.

Alaska cruises are so cheap now, that we have booked another one 12 days from now. This one will be on the comparably-sized Royal Caribbean Ovation. Instead of a balcony, we will be in an inside cabin with a so-called "virtual balcony". That is, there will be a large video screen on one wall that will display a view from a dedicated balcony cabin. So we are curious to see how much it cuts down on the claustrophobic experience of an inside cabin.

 

[Rhea]

I’d like to get to Alaska. I am not a cruise-line person - it just doesn’t match my usual vacation style - but I’ve heard Alaska may be the one time to try it. Sounds like a nice trip you had. Do you expect any opportunity to upgrade your cabin? I hear that happens sometimes.

What makes you want to go again so soon? Is it the atmosphere of the cruise and so a duplicate trip is not really duplicate?

 

[Copernicus]

I’d like to get to Alaska. I am not a cruise-line person - it just doesn’t match my usual vacation style - but I’ve heard Alaska may be the one time to try it. Sounds like a nice trip you had. Do you expect any opportunity to upgrade your cabin? I hear that happens sometimes.

What makes you want to go again so soon? Is it the atmosphere of the cruise and so a duplicate trip is not really duplicate?

My wife and I love to travel, and we always took land trips until about 8 years ago. Then we took a transatlantic from Florida to Rome, and we enjoyed it a lot more than we expected. The idea of having a floating hotel with all-inclusive meals, free entertainment and activities, interesting destinations, and the opportunity to meet a lot of new people attracted us to continue. Also, we aim to keep our daily cost for the trip down to roughly $100/pp per day, if possible, and that can be substantially cheaper than land trips that we take. So most of our travel is now by cruise ship. Most of the world's greatest cities are located on coasts or within easy access of a coast, since sea ports were so strategically important in the past.

Complimentary cabin upgrades do happen, and we have had some great free upgrades in the past. Nowadays, cruise lines will try to "upsell" customers to a higher grade of cabin before the trip, but they still shift some people around in order to free up cabins that they can sell more easily as embarkation day approaches.

We are traveling back to Alaska in about a week because the price was simply too good to pass up--$289/pp for a 7-day cruise. I'm not a fan of these monster ships, and Royal Caribbean is not my favorite line. But we do have some status on that line from previous cruise trips, and the ship will only be about 60% of capacity. I much prefer smaller ships, but they tend to be more expensive than the monster ships. Besides, I expect that the COVID crisis is going to last for several more years at least, and we're not getting any younger. We're both in our 70s and don't know how much longer we'll be healthy enough to travel. So we'll grab the opportunities as they come.

 

[Rhea]

Also smiling nostalgically at this thread title. “Wuhan Flu Scare.”

 

[Copernicus]

We did have something of a bizarre incident on this trip. About halfway through it at 12:30 am, there was a sudden announcement "Man overboard! Man overboard! Port side!" We were already asleep, but everyone was ordered to return to their cabins. They announced that the ship was turning back to search the area, and two rescue craft were dispatched. Then we were told that everyone was to assemble at their muster stations but not to bring life jackets. The general alarm was sounded. So we all had to dress quickly and assemble in the designated areas. Some people came in bathrobes. We all sat about for half an hour while every single person in the crew and passenger list were verified. After everyone was confirmed safe, they released us back to our cabins.

We never learned the details of what happened to cause the alarm, but no one had gone overboard. This was an interesting test of the ability of the ship to assemble passengers and crew quickly for a real emergency, and they did a very good job. The few passengers who (inevitably) did not show up at their muster stations were tracked down relatively quickly. All of us had been issued medallions with RFID chips that signaled our locations, so the task was not as difficult as it might have been on other ships. This is a new technology that Princess Cruises introduced recently, and it worked very nicely.

 

[Copernicus]

Also smiling nostalgically at this thread title. “Wuhan Flu Scare.”

Right. When I started this thread, the reported outbreak was still largely confined the the Wuhan province in China, although we now know that the Trump administration and Congress had been well enough informed for a number of them to rush out to engage in insider stock trading deals.