Royal Caribbean, MSC, others cancel China cruises due to coronavirus outbreak
Royal Caribbean, MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises are all canceling upcoming departures from China due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Royal Caribbean is suspending Monday’s scheduled sailing of one of its cruise ships out of the country due to the deadly virus.
The cruise line is suspending the Jan. 27 sailing of Spectrum of the Seas, its only ship currently with a home port in China, Jonathon Fishman, a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean, said in a statement to USA TODAY. The ship was scheduled to leave Shanghai and visit Okinawa Island on a four-day voyage, according to CruiseMapper.com.
No Royal Caribbean cancellations beyond Monday have been announced. The next sailing out of Shanghai is scheduled for Friday.
“The health and safety of our guests and crew is our primary concern, and we continue to work with the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, and government health authorities to monitor the situation,” the statement read.
Passengers scheduled to sail on the cruise ship will receive full refunds for the cancellation.
MSC Cruises has also announced the cancellation of its Tuesday trip from Shanghai on its MSC Splendida ship, according to Cruise Industry News and Express UK. Passengers can either receive a full refund or book another trip of equal price and receive additional onboard credit.
Costa Cruises has canceled departures on four of its ships with sailing dates from Jan. 25 to Feb. 2, according to Express UK and Cruise Fever. Trips on the Costa Serena, the Costa Atlantica, the Costa Venezia and the Costa neoRomantica have all been canceled and the ships are all currently docked in ornear China, according to CruiseMapper.com.
The cruise lines’ cancellations come shortly after the U.S. Department of State issued its most severe travel advisory – Level 4: do not travel – for the central Chinese province of Hubei, home to Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
Although the country as a whole maintains its Level 2 advisory (exercise increased caution), the State Department issued a special warning for the Wuhan region and noted that it had evacuated all non-essential personnel from China, limiting its ability to aid U.S. citizens in Hubei province.
On Sunday, a third U.S. case of the deadly coronavirus that has killed more than 50 people in China has been confirmed in Southern California.
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as pneumonia to Middle East respiratory syndrome, known as MERS, and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.
Common signs of infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and death.
Contributing: John Bacon, Jayme Deerwester and Dawn Gilbert
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