I'm about to sign up for a cruise to the Mediterranean and Black Seas. I'm wondering if it's wise to do so considering the present conditions.

ibro

Are there already conditions in Europe?

Will you go to the mall this weekend to shop? Cruising is no different.

What will happen is that Government Agencies will take precautions as this thing gets bigger or smaller. Europe is just watching things right now, so unless your a pig farmer from Mexico City, you should be fine cruising the Med.

The Cruise lines will not want their ships empty, so they will take extra precautions also. They might scrub the ship down if someone gets sick. Or not let anyone handle food at the buffets. And plus each major cruise ship has like 100 of those clean gel dispensers around the ship.

I would go, but I would also buy the insurance, and upgrade the insurance if you can. Keep an eye on things, in Europe, and visit the State Department online for closings and such.

There are 3 rules to clean and healthy cruising:
1. Sanitize your hands
2. Sanitize your hands again
3. Sanitize your hands some more

Other safety rule: do not touch hand rails / railings etc. People sneeeze, cover mouth with hands, dirty hands touch railing ... you get the idea.

If you won't want to sanitize your hands, an alternative is to wear gloves.

All the ships ask for your declaration of health (i.e. no flu sympton, diaherra etc) before they allow you to board. Unfortuantely, a lot of people signed it even though they are sick and that's when virus may spread. You have a better chance of catching the bug at a crowded mall (or college dorm) than on a ship as a ship is MUCH cleaner.

The swime flu seems to originate from Mexico and Carnival announced today (April 28) that 3 ships will not stop at Mexico at least until early June. They will make alternate port of calls. Other cruise lines announced that they willamke the decisison day to day.

If you are really worried, wear a mask.

When are you cruising? If its past the the next few months, you might be okay.

<Will you go to the mall this weekend to shop? Cruising is no different.>
True, but in this case it could be a concern. Like a previous poster said, a lot of the ships have cancelled the Mexico stops and substituted with days at sea. That would not set well with me - I hate days at sea. So hopefully conditions in Europe will not be so bad that they would have to deviate from the itinerary. But like I said, if the cruise is 6 months or a year from now, maybe it won't matter.

Another suggestion: At the Captain's party, to which you'll be invited, don't shake his hand!! Believe me, he'll understand. Just think how many shakes he's already received. Don't worry ..you'll be fine...just use PRELL!!

As a physician, I would not be overly worried about contracting this flu. It doesn't sound too bad and largely preventable and treatable. I would be somewhat concerned about what others i.e. cruise lines, governments etc. might do and the inconvenience possibly involved.
That idea and the economy lead me to settle for some time at the beach this summer. See what happens in the fall.

As far as shaking the Captains hand - the last two cruises I was on (the last one was Sept 08) they did not shake hands with the passengers. It was announced ahead of time that this would happen and not to be offended. There still was a Captains cocktail party and he spoke to everyone - just no handshaking.