● China cruises canceled,
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 nine-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 have ships that visit Chinese ports and are mostly geared toward Chinese travelers.
Carnival Corp. has canceled all cruises on its Costa ships from China between Jan. 25 and Feb. 4. The company is offering full refunds, 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, but that might change. MS Westerdam — which is scheduled to start visiting Tianjin port, near Beijing, next month — might also be affected
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 midFebruary. Additionally, the company will temporarily prohibit passengers who have traveled through China’s Hubei Province, the outbreak’s epicenter, 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 comments 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 to board.
MSC Crusies canceled MSC Splendida’s cruise from Shanghai on Jan. 28, a company spokesperson said via email. The company is offering to refund passengers or rebook them later this year, plus an extra on board credit.