Well, those of you who have had your cruise itineraries change because of the Center for disease control’s travel advisory may be in luck. This weekend the CDC has lifted their warning which advised against all nonessential travel to Mexico, due to the swine flu outbreak. While the CDC still recommends those who are at a high risk for complications arising from influenza to seriously consider whether or not travel to Mexico is right for you, this new advisory opens the door for cruise lines to resume calls on Mexican ports.

Nearly 40 cruise ships made itinerary changes because of the swine flu outbreak last month. Soon, many of these cruise ships will resume their originally scheduled itineraries. I had an aunt schedule to take a Carnival cruise in about two weeks. She was pretty upset when she found out that she would not be able to visit Cozumel on the trip. The bad news is, she still will not be seeing Cozumel the good news is those of you sailing later on in June may.  You see, even though the advisory against nonessential travelers has been lifted in most cases cruising to Mexico will not be resumed immediately.

What does this mean for me?

Many of the ships which were originally scheduled to call on Mexican port either do not have updated information as of yet so those of you with questions on which itinerary your ship will be sailing should get in touch with the cruise line for any needed clarification. However, here is what we do know about the itinerary changes. Carnival Cruise line ships which were affected by the itinerary change were given revised itineraries through mid-June. These ships will not be including calls to Mexico until after the modified sailings have been completed. On the flipside, Royal Caribbean ships that were given revised itineraries will resume port calls to Cozumel beginning with sailings that depart on or after May 24. The exception being, Mariner of the Seas which will continue to sail it’s modified Pacific Northwest itinerary through June 14.

Why can’t I sail my original itinerary?

Now, I know many of you will wonder why the cruise lines are waiting to resume sailing to Mexican ports of call, the truth is it would cost too much. When Mexico was essentially closed the cruise lines had to scramble to find alternative ports for their guests to visit. In many cases they were able to find a new port, but in some cases passengers had to settle for an additional day at sea. When the cruise lines changed ports those agreements became set in stone, at least enough that adjusting back to the original itinerary would not be worth the effort from a financial standpoint. Those of you who were given an additional day at sea can make the argument that they should be given their port of call back, but even that is not likely to happen.

When the changes were made many cruise lines were flooded with complaints from passengers which resulted in numerous cancellations, issuance of onboard credit and many other headaches. Changing the itineraries once again would likely have the same result, not because everyone would be genuinely upset but because the world is full of greedy people. There are those among us who relish every opportunity to get something for nothing, especially in this economy. When taking into account all the hoops that it have been jumped through it is impossible to undo what has been done, readjusting the cruise itinerary would result in another loss for the cruise industry at a time where many lines are barely keeping afloat.

According to a cruise line statement two of the crew members on Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas have just recovered from flu like symptoms. Right now it’s unknown whether the crew members had the H1N1 strain, but samples have been submitted to the CDC. On May 1 and May 4 and the two crew members were isolated after becoming ill.

Isolation is standard procedure onboard cruise ships when dealing with any possible flu outbreaks. Both of the individuals were treated with Tamil flu and are now fully recovered. They are no longer considered to be a source of any influenza infection. Additionally the cruise ship took other measures to reduce the risk of any possible spread influenza including pre-boarding screening of all passengers and crew and the placement of hand sanitizers throughout the ship. In other words the cruise lines know what they are doing and what early reporting there never was any real danger.

Is it just me or has the media frenzy surrounding influenza H1N1 faded almost as rapidly as it started. Just a couple of weeks ago the swine flu pandemic was the lead story in every newscast and front page news in every newspaper now any mention is barely present unless we search for it.

On Mother’s Day I was talking to my mom, and she mentioned that Allegheny County has seen its first case of the swine flu. One week prior my reaction would’ve probably been a lot different than the one she received. The truth is I was over it, this has to be the most passé pandemic in the history of pandemics. After all, we have seen our first cases here back in April. Often times when hit with a new disease or illness we often receive the worst-case scenario news first. As it stands this seems to be another one of those cases.  The Media and those wackos seen on the news running errands in Hazmat suits wanted Bubonic Plague instead what they got was a case of the sniffles.

This just goes to show you what happens when the mainstream media grabs hold of the story. We all should have learned by now that it is always more interesting to scare the public than to put things in perspective. That perspective being that while the H1N1 is a very real danger it is no more life-threatening than any other flu and as long as you observe common sense and standard rules of hygiene, you should be ok.

Having to declare various illnesses is nothing new to those of us who have been on cruises.  However, those who have an upcoming cruise may notice a few new questions.  For quite a while it has been common practice for cruise ships to screen for Norovirus symptoms before passengers were allowed to board the cruise ship, now swine flu has been added to the list. 

CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association)  recently announced that all 24 of its member cruise lines (which includes all of the major lines) have adopted new measures to safeguard the health of their passengers and crew.  Passengers will now be required to complete a questionnaire regarding the various symptoms of influenza H1N1.  Passengers who are graded as being a risk will then be screened by the ships medical personnel before being allowed to board the ship.  The only passengers who will be denied access will be those who actually exhibit the properties of the swine flu, all others will be boarded.

My Thoughts on the New Screening Process

I am really impressed at the swiftness at which CLIA and their member cruise lines have moved to get an additional layer of screening in place.  While we would hope those exhibiting symptoms of the Swine Flu would exercise the common sense to not risk the health of others, you can never be too sure.  Now, you can still ask the question what if someone just lies on the cruise questionnaire.  While valid I would have to think not many people are malicious enough to lie on a questionnaire meant to determine if someone was carrying a potentially deadly strain of the flu.