I would much prefer taking an RCCL cruise than an airline flight. At least I know that the ship was properly sanitized. Can’t say that for planes.
I’ve taken cruises during flu season…and I totally respect the precautions the cruise lines take. They have hand sanitizer at the entrance to every single place where groups can be…and folks must use it. When I was on a somewhat recent cruise, they had staff stationed at each place, and would not allow entry until folks complied. This included the dining room, theater, etc. and yes…I saw folks who were turned away at meal time because they refused…refused to comply. They were told they could order room service in their cabins.
Staff was washing down rails on stairs, doorknobs, etc for much of the trip. No one served themselves at a buffet. Staff did this…with gloved hands.
Sick people also don’t have a lot of common sense sometimes. If you are sick…stay out of public places. Please.
I worked in a school and I can’t tell you how many times sick kids were sent to school…fevers, strep, throwing up, coughing. I washed my hands a LOT. Wiped my tables down a LOT. Wiped the chairs a LOT.
During the H1N1 flu thing, our schools had hand sanitizers put in every room right next to the door. I actually insisted my students USE them. Others didn’t.
We are going on a cruise in 3 weeks. Cruise lines differ in their onboard practices. Mass market -ie cheap - lines are those where one sees the disgusting buffet behavior and rampaging drunks competing in belly flop contest. There is a sq. ft/passenger rating for each sailing ship. It lets you know how much personal space is available to each individual on board (take all public spaces and divid by number of passengers). The mass market lines have very little. The upper end, more exclusive lines can have more than double the space pp when compared to the mass market vessels.
Our favorite line is as @thumper1 describes. NO ONE gets to touch the food. It is plated for you. (ironically, there are certain cultural issues where folks try to push ahead in line and grab for themselves. This is quickly shut down by the staff. Thankfully, it is not too common). You are not allowed entry to a dining facility without using sanitizer. The staff stands there, with sanitizer in hand and basically ambushes you. The cabin cleaning staff consists of two team members. One cleans the ‘dry’ areas and one the ‘wet’. So the person and materials which are used to clean the bathroom doesn’t cross contaminate with the person changing your bedding. In the evenings where many passengers are using the common areas staff is stationed in the restrooms. They hand out towels and open doors. It also serves as a bit of public shaming - getting everyone to wash their hands.
We have been informed that anyone who has been in China within the last 30 days (notice was sent 8 days ago) would be denied boarding. A full refund would be issued.
Frankly, I am way more concern about the aircraft and the flight.
Early on in this thread I predicted the ‘racism/xenophobia’ call to arms would predictably occur. In this particular instance, with this particular virus it clearly started and spread from one area. To address this fact by restricting the movement related to individuals who will by family connection have a greater probability coming in contact with infected individuals/areas makes sense. That is if one is trying to protect public health. The virus doesn’t care about your politics or desire to be ever so ‘correct’ and fair.
I have become much more aware of ‘danger’ zones in daily life. Take the common dispensers at my local coffee shop. OR the common condiment containers at a restaurant. I’ve also become extremely aware of how many times I touch my face.
I may have missed it but AFAIK, there has been no person contagious with this virus who has entered the US since the flight restrictions and screening began. Maybe these measures are working.
With the cruise lines’ ban on the China, Hong Kong, Macau passport holders, even those who hold permanent residency of the US (AKA green card holders) can not get on the cruise? I think some lawyers will get involved.
It isn’t a permanent ban, it is only for a few weeks, and full refunds are being offered to those denied boarding. Why any one would want to board a pleasure cruise right now is beyond me.
I’m not aware of any case of coronavirus infection due to flights. I’m not sure why, but it could be the air filtration system on a modern plane is much better.
Perhaps it is because flights were halted much earlier.
Let me correct myself, it is not ‘just’ the flight. It involves airports and all the human closeness they require. Some of our airports have stopped selling bottled water. (oh, you can still get the sugary stuff in large quantity, but not plain water). If you want good old plain water you need to fill your own bottle at one of the communal stations. Ewww, ick and yikes.
Why is it ewww ick and yikes? That’s what I do every time I fly. I’ve stopped buying bottled water after seeing all the water bottles in the ocean. I do check their filter monitor and most of them have a sensor to fill the bottle. You don’t touch anything.
Sorry behind the pay wall but the excerpt should give a pretty good idea of the content. The title of the article is “He ducked chines authorities to report on Coronavirus…”
Not every airport has those fancy stations like the ones at SFO. Most of the ones I have seen and passed are your old fashioned bubbler style. Yuck and ick, indeed.
Air on planes is really dry (so not conducive to stuff that needs moisture to move and survive), and circulates through HEPA filters. If you turn on the vent over your seat and point it at your face, you’re breathing filtered air and really only at risk from the people immediately surrounding you in terms of airborne threat. Even when the plane is freezing cold and I’m shivering I keep the vent open and on my face.
For non-airborne threats, there’s the tray table and seat pocket, seatbelt buckles, and headrest. Don’t touch those if you can help it and sanitize them if you need to.
Xenophobia, sure, by definition; racism, not likely (as all races under a Chinese passport are banned, and there is no indication of ‘superiority’…)
.
@1NJParent — actually I would be far more worried about norovirus than flu on a cruise ship this time of year. It’s virtually impossible to clean off all surfaces, persists on said surfaces for weeks, spreads like wildfire on infected ships, and makes you feel like you want to die.
ETA — less lethal than flu but unbelievably effective at propagating in that environment.
On a recent plane ride, I saw multiple people wiping their tray tables and seatbacks in front of them with disinfecting wipes. Good.
One of the things cruise lines enforce is the ‘do not fill your personal water bottle at the public station’. Also, take a new cup or glass and do not reuse one you’ve already contaminated. Even the most basic and cheap of the the buffet places will not let you come back to the trough with a used plate or liquid container.
So, translate this to an airport. Your bottle, with your germs all over it now touches the same area as the hands and bottles of all those that have gone before you. It’s not the internal water filter that is the issue, it’s the spout and body of the unit. I have used these (and yes, SFO has nice ones) but honestly - they are not sanitary.
And this just popped up…https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/dirtiest-places-plane-airport-germs-coronavirus-12542068.php
Yup, that self service check in kiosk is the hands down winner.
We’ve (well, I have and I force H) been wiping down aircraft surfaces with Clorox wipes for a few years. Passengers nearby usually think ‘wow, that was a good idea’ so I offer them wipes. Keeps the whole row cleaner. :). Just read an article on which surfaces to wipe - included the usual culprits of tray, seat belt, arm rests, head rest, seat back etc. But it also suggested wiping the overhead airflow control. Hadn’t thought of that. And further, it suggested to keep the airflow directed at your navel (not face). Another suggestion was to use nasal saline to keep the membranes moist. Dry membranes are an easier entry point for all things ‘yuck’.
@dietz199 ”disgusting” “drunk” , basically pigs at a trough - tell us how you really feel about those who can only afford “cheap” cruises. Yikes!
We are flying again this week. Just told H I’m packing wipes and taking my small hand sanitizer. We really should be doing this every time we fly, period.
I still don’t know what you are talking about. The bottle doesn’t touching anything.