Miami-based cruise companies cancel China itineraries as coronavirus spreads
Miami-based cruise companies are canceling trips to China as the number of people infected with the Wuhan coronavirus rises.
Wuhan, an inland city about a 9-hour drive from coastal Shanghai, China’s busiest cruise port, is the epicenter of a new type of virus that has infected more than 5,000 people and killed more than 100 as of Tuesday, according to CBS News. Cruise companies Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., and MSC Cruises all have ships that visit Chinese ports mostly geared toward a Chinese traveler.
Carnival Corp. has canceled all cruises on its Costa ships from China between Jan. 25 and Feb. 4. The company is offering a full refund to affected passengers, a company spokesperson said via email. Itineraries on Carnival Corp.’s AIDAvita, Seabourn Ovation, and Diamond Princess ships currently calling in Hong Kong have not been modified yet, but that may change in coming days along with MS Westerdam, which is scheduled to start visiting Tianjin port, near Beijing, next month.
Royal Caribbean canceled the Jan. 27 and Jan. 31 sailings from Shanghai on its Spectrum of the Seas ship, a company spokesperson said via email. The company has not yet made any changes to sailings on Celebrity Millennium and Silver Spirit ships out of Hong Kong in mid-February. Additionally, the company will temporarily prohibit passengers who have traveled through the Hubei Province in China from boarding its cruises. Passengers who have traveled in any other regions of China in the past two weeks will receive secondary medical screenings, the spokesperson said.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Jade ship is scheduled to sail from Hong Kong on Jan. 30; its Regent Seven Seas Voyager ship is scheduled to sail from there at the end of February. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment about its plans for the two ships. A passenger who inquired with NCL on Twitter about the status of the upcoming Norwegian Jade cruise shared a message from the company with the Herald saying that the cruise would continue as scheduled and the company will not allow passengers with temperatures above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit to board.
MSC Cruises canceled MSC Splendida’s cruise from Shanghai on Jan. 28 after receiving “urgent guidelines from the Chinese government,” and will keep the ship in the Shanghai port for the duration of the cruise until Feb. 1, a company spokesperson said via email. The company is offering to refund passengers or rebook them on a sailing later this year, plus an extra onboard credit.
Cruise companies are closely monitoring the virus outbreak. A Carnival Corp. spokesperson said via email that the company is in touch with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to implement “pre-boarding health reporting for all guests, temperature and questionnaire screening for persons from affected areas and denial of boarding as necessary” on its ships still cruising to China.
MSC Cruises said via email the company is in touch with the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China and will “strictly follow their advice and recommendations.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Miami-based cruise companies cancel China itineraries as coronavirus spreads."
