would you go on a cruise, given the recent hantavarus and being refused to dock?

[HoraceCope]

British crew member in need of urgent medical care amid suspected hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship | Water transport | The Guardian

I love a river cruise. Smaller and more intimate, doesn’t feel wasteful. I highly recommend the Danube and the Nile.

I wouldn’t go on a cruise full stop. Petri dish in the middle of the ocean for anything, not just this virus.

I went on my first cruise last year and loved it so much we’re doing it again this year.

I’m someone who does get concerned about Norovirus so I must admit it worried me slightly last year. But, we didn’t eat at the buffet (many hands on serving spoons?🤢), avoided the swimming pool and hot tubs - I don’t swim anyway, took our own reusable straws for drinks, and wooden forks if we wanted chips from the snack place to avoid touching the stand of cutlery that people might have touched, and obviously we washed and sanitised regularly. We were on an adult only ship too which eased my concerns slightly.

To all the other points, we found loads to do, didn’t feel forced at any point to socialise and loved all the port stops.

I understand that, there are so many different types of cruise.....from small adult only expedition style ships to the massive floating resort style ones popular with families.

Which is why the comments saying "forced fun" , "having to socialise" or "wearing headphones on excursions" are so weird when this isn't many people's experience of cruising at all. They're so varied it's really impossible to compare some of them other than you're on a boat!

I find the snobbiest comments about cruises on MN are as per usual.....from people that have never been on one.

I love them despite getting mal de débarquement upon returning to solid ground. I have done 3 so far (Nile, Western Med and Eastern Med) and hope to do at least 1 or 2 more (Carribean and maybe Fjords)!

I expect I'll do cruises one day, yes. Right now they are way too tame for my liking, though.

I don’t like places that I can’t leave, so cruises in general aren’t for me. Although I’ve never been on one.. The Petri dish element is also something I find very disturbing, but obviously cruises only reach the news when there is something like this virus and it’s far from the norm. I also prefer my holidays to not have hoards of people. So hard pass. I’d take a yacht with a private chef and a couple of close friends instead 🤣

@Miranda65 ‘floating multi storey car park’ is the best expression I’ve read in a long time 🤣🤣

I've always been put off cruises after watching them dock at different islands and thousands of people streaming out like cattle into organised tour buses. It just seems like one big school trip with the only 'benefit' being unlimited alcohol and buffet food.

Not as a passenger or on one of the massive ones - I have done it as a lecturer on a small (c.100 people) cruise through the Mediterranean and that was brilliant and I'd do it again like a shot.

I wouldn’t go on a cruise if you paid me!
Virus or no virus.

I am the most anti-social person you could come across and have partaken in absolutely no forced fun on any cruise I have been on and if I was forced to endure ‘so many people’ I’d sit on the floor and have a strop. I’ve never had to do that either!

Went once, never again.

Me and DS could both give you a run for your money on anti socialness and I fully agree with you. Yes there are activities there if you want them but I have never been forced to take part in any and haven’t even shared a table with strangers!

We go on ships with 100 passengers and these are expedition ships. Totally different from 5000 on a giant ship. No forced anything! Not cheap though.

I heard that this virus might be in something the passengers ate on shore so the cruise ship might not have been the source of the outbreak. No doubt experts will be finding the source of this.

went on one recently. Constant hand sanitisation,/washing at the buffets etc. I can see the attraction esp if in eg the Caribbean because I don't want to spend 2 weeks in the Domincan Republic. Go there, look round, next island. Alaska would be good. See the scenery, stop at the ports because the Alaskan interior is somewhat harsh and a lot of empty space.

@Pedallleur Alaska is on my list for a cruise too. Hopefully one day!

DH and I have a dream of one day doing a world cruise which is 100 nights and a round trip from Southampton. So far we've saved £200 towards it 🤣🤣🤣 so quite a long way to go but we can still dream whilst waiting for a lottery win.

There's no forced fun, no expectation of socialising, people do get some weird ideas. You can go on one of the big ships and literally speak to no one apart from the staff for the whole time, chances are you'll never sit see the same people twice, you can have your own table in the restaurants, you don't have to share, you don't have to use the buffet. The fun is there for those who want it but there is no one forcing you to take part in any of it. There are lots of quiet places to sit both on deck and inside in bars, lounges etc.

Agree that ignorance and sneering about cruises seems to be a MN thing.

@Pedallleur How do you know if you have never been to Alaska? You do know it’s enormous and of course it varies! The cruise ships can show you the big coastal scenery but you will struggle to see bears and wildlife. I’ve been on a 12 person yacht in Alaska and a big cruise ship. What you see isn’t the same!

Who does want to see the DR for 2 weeks? Caribbean cruising shows you next to nothing of an Island. We’ve done two when dc were young. A much better holiday is using local ferries and staying on several islands or even flying to another one! Cruises are about eating and on board activities. They have hugely expensive sightseeing trips and you can see much more by staying and looking around yourself - plus you can get to much nicer islands!

I'm not sneering. That's a stretch. I'm just very introverted so it really is not for me. Having said that, DH is now a dialysis patient and a cruise might be the only realistic option for us to properly holiday so I might have to put my issues aside for his benefit.

I think I'd love (hygienic, well-run) cruises if I had the money and the cat sitters, but I don't.

But if I was a crazed multi-billionaire who thought the world needed drastic depopulation I'd be looking at this situation and scribbling notes. Human-to-human transmission, very long incubation period, 2% (so far) of people exposed dead, infected people already transferred to hospital in South Africa and Switzerland.

Those very educational cop shows I watch would be showing a map with red spots all over the globe getting bigger and more numerous at this stage, just before the heroes weapon up and head out to rescue the world.

@ShizeItsWeegie I am introverted too and I absolutely hate small talk as I just can't do it, I never know what to say to people! I have never had any issues on a cruise, I just sit and read my book, chill out with DH in one of the bars etc.... nobody is going to force you to do any of the activities or share a table with strangers..... they're just there for the people that want them.

Yes the sneering is always from people that have never set foot on a cruise ship. I think people just pick up on parts to justify their thinking but in reality lots of us cruise without ever buying a group excursion or going to a ‘forced fun event’. The best bit for us is relaxing in the quiet parts and then getting a taste of the places they dock. We tend to investigate and do our own thing at port.

You might like it, honestly. I never even considered it for many years, then read an article about how good they are for families where everyone wants something different from their holiday, which is us, and we had a great time. And they are great for people with medical needs, disabilities, mobility issues etc, I have a family member for whom cruises from UK ports are the only really feasible option for foreign travel.

@JugglingMyNuts I have been on 4 cruises on large (ish) ships and they have huge drawbacks. Food is average (people don’t know what high quality food is) and the excursions are expensive and often short. Dc enjoyed them but DH and me now go on expedition cruises and it’s a world apart! We’ve seen amazing sights and wildlife, and we’re not ever going back to a huge ship but luckily we can afford not to! Being one of 5000 on a ship is very unappealing. There’s better holidays available but cruising is cheap.