There should be no reason that the government give any sort of tax relief or break to a cruise company due to the coronavirus. If I not mistaking, all the cruise ships are built outside of the United States. All of the cruise lines register their ships in countries that are friendly to foreign laws. And lastly I would estimate 95 percent of all crew members and staff on a cruise ship are from other countries than the United States.
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From the story:
‘Mr. Green said he was not sold on the authorities’ assurances that they were whisking passengers from the cruise ship away to quarantine on military bases.
“All it takes is one to escape,” he said.’
What in the name of all that is holy is wrong with these people?
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How many aboard have symptoms? Are those with symptoms the only one's being tested? And of those with symptoms, how sick are they? Is it like the flu?
“All it takes is one to escape”==People do realize we're talking about human beings and not rabid dogs or rats, correct? How shameful that we can't treat other humans, who are probably stressed out of their minds at this point, as fellow humans.
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Why hasn't everyone been tested by now?
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Two days ago the US State Department advised Americans, especially the elderly, to avoid cruises, warning that they present a higher risk of coronavirus infection and make U.S. citizens vulnerable to possible international travel restrictions, including quarantines.
However coronavirus and quarantines aren’t the only dangers cruise lines pose to travelers.
My wife and I are in our 70’s so yesterday I called Regent cruise line to cancel our upcoming cruise to the Baltic. I was informed that our $4,000 deposit would not be refunded but instead put in a “Reassurance Account” to be applied to a future cruise that must be booked within a year.
No one knows if the coronavirus will be gone in a year, my wife and I are getting older and less mobile, and based on recent events we have zero confidence in the ability of Regent and other cruise lines to keep their ships from becoming floating Petri dishes.
Indeed, based on my conversation with Regent yesterday I can confirm that cruise lines are not likely to give deposit refunds—bookers beware!
Exposure to coronavirus is frightening, disruptive and dangerous whatever one’s age, so think twice—or 3 or 4 times—before booking with Regent or any other cruise line; they do not refund deposits even when their trips are scheduled to stop in countries with confirmed coronavirus cases and the US government recommends not taking cruises.
Contact your Senators and Congresspersons to let them know Regent’s other dirty secret.
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@Mon Ray I am in the process of cancelling a tour of Japan, due to leave on March 14. Everyone should make sure to book travel insurance with coverage called "cancel for any reason". This should cover you whether you decide to cancel or the tour company decides to cancel. My understanding is if I decide to cancel I will get a voucher for a later trip, if the tour company cancels (in this case OAT) I get a refund check. Terms may vary, so caveat emptor!
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If I understand right the crew remains on board, some sick like Amado who will be treated at sea. He was hugged and kissed by the now frightened passenger who gets to disembark. The double standard disgusts me.
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@Jo Ann Please read the article again. The 21 sick people were the first taken off the ship. That includes 19 crew members. Amado would be one if them. He will be treated in an American hospital. Be careful about jumping to conclusions. Many North Americans believe that all people are equal and would be disgusted by your assumptions that there is a double standard.
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Why didn't they think to use Alcatraz Island as a landing place and a place for quarantine for those affected.?
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@William I guess you've never been to alcatraz. it's a tourist site, not a medical facility.
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Clearly, you have never been there. There is no dock suitable for berthing a ship this size and no habitable buildings.
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Because there are no facilities there able to deal w that many people.
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ALL USAF recruits attend basic training at Lackland AFB and then are assigned to bases around the US and the world.
Furthermore the rest of the military transit the area in other training activities particularly related to health services.
Another idiotic Trump administration decision.
Victims of the virus should be treated in sparsely populated states with warm and arid climates .
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These behemoths are the perfect vehicle for spreading contagious pathogens..........Look at the people waving hello from their balconies and look at the flimsy barrier that separates them from each other..............The next strain should be called the Carnivalvirus
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Sailing past Alcatraz. What more need one write ?
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I noticed that some of the ambulances on the quay were Santa Clara County vehicles. San José is the county seat of Santa Clara. So some patients presumably are coming here.
You are welcome! We are not afraid of you. We apologize to you for the attitude anyone in the Bay Area who wishes for you to be treated as less than human. Those people do not represent the Bay Area.
I, like others, wonder why the crew is being sent back to sea, presumably being kept at high risk, given that the sister ship Diamond Princess was an effective modality for spreading the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Maybe they're planning to scuttle the ship? (Sorry, mordant humor.) I guess the crew are considered less than human.
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You must be absolutely insane to take on a cruise in this day and age for multiple reasons. Destroying and polluting the planet by travelling on an extremely unsustainable vessel is one. The risk of contracting COVID19 is another. The working conditions of the crew and the tax evasion is one too. Disgusting on all levels.
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Even before all of this, I would never dream of going on one of these floating cities. They do terrible damage to the environment, dumping millions of tons of bile into the waters and burning millions of tons of fuel. Even the most efficient cruise ships emit 3 to 4 times more carbon dioxide per passenger-mile than a jet. Not to mention of course that they are breeding grounds for viruses.
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Mrs. Stoneham is upset that people did not want the ship to dock in their city. But she knowingly boarded a cruise ship after witnessing what happened with the Diamond Princess and fully knowing the risks. It is US, not her, who have the right to be angry.
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I'm sure the passengers are eager to get off, but once they are in quarantine at an Airforce base, they may well wish they were back on board.
I hope the 14 days passes quickly for them, it cant be any fun.
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Welcome Home, Grand Princess, one of those 'wonderful' cruise ships that silently dumps their pollution in the oceans and does its general best to socialize its costs while privatizing its profits.
Thanks, Carnival Corporation, a company that does business primarily in America but is registered as a Panamanian corporation so it can dodge federal income taxes.
Carnival pays an effective tax rate that averages 2% annually, much less than most Americans and most American small businesses.
All passengers should be treated humanely, of course, and the medical bills should be sent to Carnival Corp's head tax-dodging office.
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@Socrates Don’t forget that the ships are built outside the United States and that about 95 percent of the crew and staff come from foreign nations where labor is very cheap.
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Am I crazy for having these cruise ship incidents remind me of early days of Legionnaire's disease, in 70s, when wasn't yet fully understood how it was transmitted. Am I crazy for wondering if there is something to Purdue U professor's research, summary of which I read this weekend,regarding air conditioning systems on planes and ships, and which ones do and do not keep out COVID19 size particles?
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As a citizen of Oakland I send my best wishes to all who are leaving the ship. We have to stick together and try our best to be kind to each other.
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We are having our information repressed. Why isn’t anyone bringing up the small amount of test kits on this ship? By only testing ones showing symptoms we leave out the true culprit: asymptomatic transmission.
With covid-19, Transmission happens before symptoms show. Over 700 tested positive on the Japan fiasco when everybody got tested. This time we only test ones with symptoms. Out of 40, 20 are positive. Which happen to be the crew.
We cannot set a precedent of only testing sick people.
If only people with symptoms get help and eventually tested there we can expect lots more transmission (clearly it is here in The Bay). We need to test everybody, or quarantine everybody. This not going to be contained by treating just the sick. I’m talking to you, Gov. Newsom!
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They are quarantining everyone.
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I am not certain if the CDC and NIH and WHO have determined that asymptomatic transmission has or does occur with COVID 19.
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Why is the crew being treated differently than the passengers? Are they not human? Where are they going to go? Why are they not being taken off the ship and triaged just like everyone else?
I think I can guess the answer, and if my hunch is true (the crew is largely made up of foreign nationals, many from the Philippines) it smacks of racism and political expediency at the cost of doing the morally and medically proper thing in this case.
Keep in mind that the company that owns and operates the ship (Princess Cruise Lines) is an American company, headquartered in California. Princess Cruise Lines is owned by Carnival Cruise Lines, which is a joint American/UK owned company which is headquartered in Florida. The fact that the ship is registered under a flag of convenience in another country and that the cruise line chooses to employ mostly foreign nationals is more or less irrelevant IMHO.
I hope the crew is not forgotten when they sail off into the sunset a few days from now.
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@Enigma Variation
As a former employee of Norwegian Cruise Line America, I can tell you that it is a fact that non US flagged ship crew are treated worse than what I experienced aboard the Pride of America (the only US flagged cruise ship).
Our crew consisted of employees from across the US and so our working conditions were considered much better than any other cruise ship worldwide.
Take note however, that we worked every day for the entirety of our typically 5 month long contract, without a single full day off. I worked as a restaurant server and in my two contracts was never allowed a single full day off. We would work breakfast, lunch, and dinner or some combination of two out of the three shifts. ie breakfast and dinner or lunch and dinner..
We were served terrible food in the mess hall (the communal dining hall for employees) and I distinctly remember being served a bone soup. I assumed it was chicken bones, but did not have dinner that night. There is rampant drug and alcohol abuse aboard this ship, with some crew members actually making drugs in the "fine dining" restaurant kitchens. Crew members sleep with passengers and there is a lot of potential for sexually transmitted disease.
The crew have no access to wifi or cellular/mobile service in their cabins below deck and so communicating with family back home must happen between shifts and in places on the ship where you can find service (top decks).
In short, think very poor conditions.
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@Enigma Variation It is absolutely inhumane to leave the crew on that ship, at least beyond the minimum crew necessary to move the ship to a more permanent dock. So glad to see you bring this up. Its outrageous.
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@Enigma Variation Your comment is ridiculous. Passengers leave the ship because they were on vacation. Those who live in the United States are isolated there. Canadians are repatriated and isolated in Canada.
But the crew work on the ship. If they leave, they don't get paid. Loss of employment would cause panic among these 1,000+ crew members. Many send money home to their families. As it is, without passengers they will see a substantial drop in income since they rely on tips.
You might also consider that "crew" includes the ship's officers, entertainers, spa technicians, photographers, concierges, casino dealers and, of course, the ship's medical team. Many of these positions are high paying and may or may not be filled by foreign nationals.
ALL of these people will be isolated on the ship instead of on army bases. Not just those you consider to be cheap foreign labour.
When the Diamond Princess passengers disembarked, the ship remained docked and the crew stayed on board to for their isolation period. They were taken to a hospital in Japan, if necessary.
By the way... Where would you rather be isolated... on a cruise ship or on a military base?
Treatment of foreign nationals does not mean "smacks of racism." Perhaps you should give your morals a check for failing to assume the goal was to keep the Grand Princess crew safe and employed.
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People who go on cruises have health insurance.
To fight this virus, we need to be providing testing and treatment to everyone who needs it, at no cost, regardless of their immigration status or health insurance. Otherwise, the virus will continue to spread.
California, with a 16.5 billion dollar rainy day fund, should take the lead.
Governor Newsom, it's starting to rain.
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the longer that people are stuck on the ship, the more cases there will be on the ship
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