Tag Archives: Hong Kong

Coronavirus: Princess Cruises ship quarantined in Japan

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A Princess Cruises ship has been quarantined in Japan with 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew on board.

It has emerged a passenger who had sailed on Diamond Princess last month was later diagnosed with the virus.

As a precaution, an eight-day cruise due to depart from Yokohama on Tuesday has been cancelled “to help facilitate the health screening and records review process by the local authorities”.

The ship had initially been quarantined until Tuesday evening.

The passenger boarded the ship on January 20 in Yokohama but during a stop in Hong Kong on January 25, he disembarked and was subsequently diagnosed with coronavirus.

The hospital said he is in stable condition and the family members travelling with him remain symptom-free.

Addressing the cancellation, a Princess Cruises spokesperson said: “We fully appreciate this decision will be disappointing but the safety, security and well-being of our guests and crew and the places we visit are our absolute priority.

“All guests will receive a full refund and a 100% future cruise credit.

“We are working with the relevant health authorities to determine the future action required and will provide updates as soon as we have more information.”

Cruise industry body Clia issued an edict on Friday saying that passengers or crew who have travelled from or through mainland China in the previous 14 days would be denied boarding.

Some cruise ships have already cancelled China sailings and altered Asia itineraries, including departures from Shanghai.

Meanwhile, cruise passengers on Seabourn Ovation have been prevented from disembarking by Vietnamese authorities over fears the coronavirus could spread.

The number of deaths from coronavirus in China has risen to 425, with more than 20,000 confirmed cases, according to the latest reports.

At least 150 cases have been reported in other countries, with one fatality in the Philippines. One has also been confirmed in Hong Kong.

A Costa Cruises ship was held in quarantine last week near Rome over fears a Chinese couple had coronavirus, which later turned out to be the common flu.

Cruise ship warning: How diseases can spread like wildfire amid coronavirus fears

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 Coronavirus - Cruise ship fears

A CRUISE ship with 6,000 passengers carrying two suspected coronavirus patients have banned guests from disembarking at an Italian port, as fears surrounding catching diseases while travelling are on the rise. What are the best ways travellers can protect themselves against outbreaks?

 

 This fear has further heightened after news broke that two suspected patients from Hong Kong are being held in isolation in the on-board hospital of the Costa Smeralda in Civitavecchia, Italy.

The ship, which contains around 6,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members have been told to stay on board amid concerns of the outbreak.

 

In a statement, Costa Cruises said: “Costa Cruises confirms the sanitary the protocol has been activated for a guest on-board of Costa Smeralda.

 

“The guest, a 54 years old lady of Chinese nationality, is currently put on isolation on the onboard hospital since last night together with her travel mate, in line with health protocols.

“As soon as the a suspected case was detected, the Medical Team on board immediately activated all the relevant health procedures to promptly isolate and manage the clinical condition.


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“The Health Authority has been immediately notified and is now on board to conduct all the pertinent measures. It is our utmost priority to ensure the health and safety of passengers and crew.”

They added that the company is at “complete disposal” of the Health Authority and their indication will be strictly applied.

“Costa Cruises continue to apply the relevant national policies and epidemic developments, as per World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indications.”

Other major cruise lines cancelled cruises as the virus spreads, including Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises.

Hong Kong Opening Up Bigger Cruise Source Markets

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World Dream in Hong Kong

Major development projects will help make it easy for cruise guests to get to their ships at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong.

New rail, bridge and road links will better connect Hong Kong with mainland China.

“The high-speed rail will bring 270 million people within a four-hour ride of Hong Kong, and will also allow pre- and post-tours to major attractions like Guilin,” said Jeff Bent, managing director, Worldwide Cruise Terminals, which runs Kai Tak.

In addition, the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge will open up more opportunities in conjunction with a cruise trip.

In June the port celebrated a major milestone as it marked a passenger record with 15,307 guests in a single day as the World Dream and Ovation of the Seas both docked, coinciding with the modern facility’s fifth year anniversary of being in operation.

That came just after a busy month of March, with six inaugural calls which saw the Viking Sun, Star Legend, Silver Discoverer, Columbus, Norwegian Jewel and Queen Elizabeth tie up at Kai Tak.

Traffic at Kai Tak will be slightly down year-over-year, with headwinds in North Asia, Bent said.

“South China has benefited from both a more diverse and sustainable distribution model, and increased attention to the Philippines’ newly-rediscovered port-of-call destinations for locally-based ships,” he said.

Near the terminal in Hong Kong, more land is set to be developed as road and other infrastructure improvements are expected to be conducted in the next year.

“Hong Kong has already met the government’s goals for passenger throughput in 2023,” Bent said, noting the just under one-million cruise guests the city served in 2017.

“For significant growth to happen, we need to help make the source market pie bigger. China has been the world’s largest outbound travel market for a number of years, but penetration for cruise is still only a fraction of a per cent. The better we grow the Chinese source market, the more the entire world will benefit.”