TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Carnival to Resume Some Cruises Aug 1

Several Carnival ships listed and as we all know, everything is pretty much subject to change as this time. The Carnival Magic calls on SXM and is showing a cruise scheduled for Aug.15 departure from Miami with SXM listed as a port of call. This is ALL subject to change and also the Port of St. Maarten accepting the ships but I thought it to be worth posting.

LINK TO ARTICLE

I am sure this is in other media sources but I happened to find in on our local radio/TV station website.

Who in their right mind would get on a cruise ship!!!!?????

There were bacterial and virus outbreaks before of cruise ships and covid-19 just makes it more risky to cruise.

And the same could be said about an airplane. Actually, I would think cruise ships and airplanes would be cleaner now than ever before. It is not for everyone, just like Orient Beach is not for everyone.

Just posting a link so those thinking of a cruise or returning to SXM are informed of new developments.

Nobody, including me, is suggesting you or anybody else get on a cruise.

Never gotten sick on a cruise. Gotten gastro on SXM. I know TMI.

Off-topic but, never sick on SXM, just in Mexico one time and the wife at an A/I in Punta Cana. Never again for Punta Cana or an A/I. 8 cruises and never a problem, other than eating too much.

Same here with Mexico and Punta Cana, But never on SXM or a cruise.

Sick on two cruises so never cruised again. Luckily not sick in any country I've flown to.

RonDon--I thought you had a cruise scheduled before this Corona stuff hit?

We are booked on cruises in Sept. and Nov. With two weeks in SXM in Oct. Hope they all happen.

Hopefully your cruises are not booked on NCL. Looks to be going into bankruptcy, presumably chapter 11 to begin with..

NCL story

Got food poisoning twice, both tiimes in SXM. First time at Spartaco (RIP) on scallops wrapped in prosciutto. Can't eat scallops anymore, but still going to SXM. Secod time was this year and I believe the cause was tzatziki bought at an SXM grocery store. Won't buy tzaatziki there anymore, but already have return tickets for next January.

Not good and they saw very little virus news themselves

Carol, Not on NCL Royal Caribbean and Carnival....But we are more anxious about our Oct. vac. in SXM in Oct. Keeping fingers crossed.

OK, best wishes. Although I personally would be a lot more worried about the cruises than the SXM trip, if your concern is getting Corona. But, perhaps that's just me.

If the virus comes into play then of course all trips will be cancelled. Three trips so close together are a result of trips earlier this year that had to be cancelled because of the virus. What I meant was that we would be more dis-appointed if we cancelled
a SXM trip than if we cancelled cruise trip.

People who don't cruise make uneducated comments like this one based on what gets reported in the media. I primarily sail Norwegian Cruise Line and can tell you I see cleaning of public areas going on consistently when I sail with Norwegian. Do you see cleaning going on 24/7 when you go to a casino, movie theatre, sporting event, or in a hotel? Those events expose you to more risk than I would get on a cruise ship.

In regards to Covid-19, the major outbreaks on cruise ships were limited to Carnival owned ships (Princess is owned by Carnival). Princess Cruises consistently scores low on U.S. Public Heath inspections and obviously Carnival needs to do something to fix that.

Wilson--I'm thinking, what percentage of the ships worldwide are technically owned by Carnival? My thinking is that it is the majority, but I could be wrong. And to call this problem a problem with Carnival ships is way too simplistic.

Over half are under Carnival umbrella. Princess has been great cleanliness for us.

This vi5us is everywhere. Buses, planes, subways, hotels, resorts, grocery, church, nursing homes, Orlando amusement parks.

Cruise ships are just magnificent, gleaming white beauties that attract the world and visit the world. And they have doctors/nurses who know things.

Things will be amplified for them.

I’ve not heard of one other hotel/resort being singled out but I guarantee there have been some hot resorts who have done some spreading.

We love cruise ships and travel in general and I’ll reiterate we better get living/traveling as soon as personally safe or we will be buying sailboats to get to Sxm as we will lose airlines, frequency, resorts at least at their current level of quality. Somebody will pick up the Shattered pieces and remake paradise.

Let’s minimize the broken glass if we can.

I just going to talk about the big 3 cruise lines here. Carnival Corp. has 104 ships under the following brands: Aida Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Seabourn. Royal Caribbean has 61 Ships under the following brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara, Tui Cruises, Silver Sea, and Pullmantur. Norwergian Cruise Line Holdings has 28 ships under the following brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Sea Cruises. For the big 3, Carnival has 53.9% of the ships, Royal Caribbean 31.6%, and Norwegian 14.5%.

As far as confirmed cases of covid-19 by Company. Carnival had 1,922 cases among its various ships with most of the cases coming from 2 Princess ships. Royal Caribbean had 575 cases and Norwegian had 11 cases. Princess Cruises is the only cruise line to have a vessel that has failed their previous Vessel Sanitation Program inspection. These inspections are unannounced and each ship is subject to two inspections a year when they dock in U.S. ports. Each inspection last 8-10 hours.

"People who don't cruise make uneducated comments like this one based on what gets reported in the media"
For the record I have been on 6 cruises all with Royal Caribbean and I stand by my statement.

I have been on 20 and will stand by my statement that cruise ships are cleaner than any hotel, amusement park, casino, arena, stadium, or movie theatre. They are subject to so much more regulation and inspections than any business would ever be subject to.

I'm pretty sure there were other cruise lines other than those that also had cases, but this seems a fruitless argument to me and I won't argue with you, as you seem to say the whole thing is Carnival's fault, or maybe Princess.

Cruise on but remember times have changed. Hope your next cruise goes more smoothly than some that have kept passengers and crew quarantined for over a month with no port to go to.

I will defiantly be on a cruise as soon as they are allowed again. I spent a week in Japan in March and had no issues. Social distancing wasn't an option there, especially at 8 am on the Tokyo Metro where I was squeezed tighter than a sardine in a can. Not going to let the chance of catching covid dictate my life.

Good luck...I won't let a vacation dictate how my life could end...

Considering flu vaccines are only on average 40-60% effective in combating the flu, I guess you'll never be able to vacation again.

Not sure if you are intending to respond to me, but I am not the one pushing vaccines, bashing cruising or hesitating on vacations. I have two trips to SXM on the books now. No idea if they will happen but I am not going to live in fear either.

ruralcarrier, not sure why it shows replying to you, but no, it was not meant towards you.

Ok, thanks. Just trying to figure out if it was directed at me or not.

I sometimes think when one does "Quick Reply" and does not use "Full Editor", it may do this.