The goal, naturally, is to prevent the flu virus from boarding a cruise ship. In truth, cruise ships have been giving passengers similar questionaires, asking if they have been vomiting or throwing up, for many years now to stop norovirus from coming aboard. But the questionaire now also asks about a cough, runny nose or sore throat.

Passengers exhibiting flu-like symptoms will be evaluated by the cruise line’s medical staff free of charge, but such persons may be denied boarding.

“The cruise industry is taking these proactive steps out of an abundance of caution,” CLIA President Terry Dale said in a statement.

Cruise agents say most passengers are still sailing, especially on Caribbean sailings where the changes have been relatively minor. Such itineraries have dropped Mexico ports like Cozumel, Progresso and Costa Maya and substituted extra days in Key West, Grand Cayman or added ports like Ocho Rios Jamaica.

Michelle fee, CEO of the large nationwide home-based travel agent company, Cruise Planners, said, “For the most part, cruisers with itineraries that have been rerouted to the Caribbean are thankful that the cruise lines are making safety a priority, and still enabling them to enjoy their fun-in-the-sun vacations.”

“Caribbean cruises are not [Mexico] port-intensive cruises,” said Ralph Santisteban, owner of CruiseOne Miami. As a result, consumers are less concerned with the ship’s course, he said.

But West Coast cruising is an entirely different story since that is the source of Mexican Riviera Cruises that usually start in California and sail to Mexican ports Cabo San lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and sometime Acapulco or Ixtapa. While none of the cities above are considered hotbeds of the H1N1 flu outbreak, cruise lines have voluntarily stopped visiting all Mexican ports, leaving West Coast cruisers with itineraries they didn’t expect when they purchased the cruise.

“Travelers who were originally bound for the Mexican Riviera and are now being diverted to ports like San Francisco, Victoria and Seattle, are quite disappointed.” says Fee. That is what CruiseMates readers have told us as well. Most people who have travel scheduled to Mexico even in the next few weeks still want to go there.

All ships that had been sold as Mexico Riviera cruises have had U.S. ports substituted, the most impact being to the newly repositioned 110,000-ton-plus megaships Carnival Splendor and Mariner of the Seas.

Each of these ships only began regular cruises to Mexico in 2009, Mariner having arrived in January and Splendor in March. These two are the largest ships ever to have regularly scheduled cruises on the West Coast were both too large for the Panama Canal and had to circumnavigate South America to relocate to California.

These ships are now both sailing on revised itineraries that include San Francisco, Seattle and Victoria Island in British Columbia.

This itinerary would actually be a boon for people who have never seen these great American cities, much like west coasters who have never seen Philadelphia, New York and Boston. The price is right as well with cruises starting as low as $399 per person. Unfortunately, most Mexico Riviera passengers come from the West Coast and have already seen these cities.

There is also compensation for the people who had already paid for their cruises. “Cruise lines are working overtime to do everything in their power to keep passengers sailing, like offering onboard and future cruise credits,” added Fee. Royal Caribbean is allowing any cruiser booked on Mariner of the Seas a cruise credit or the opportunity to cancel and book a different cruise entirely, for example.

Carnival is offering Splendor passengers a $75 credit or the offer to rebook the cruise on a different cruise anytime through December 31, 2010. The line is specific that refunds will not be given, however. Caribbean cruises missing Cozumel or other Mexican ports only receive a $20 credit but they still have the same generous offer to rebook you on another cruise sailing before end of 2010.

The shorter cruises normally scheduled to go to Ensenada are now going to the island of Catalina west of California only. These three or four-day cruises, skipping Mexican ports Ensenada and sometimes Cabo San Lucas, are giving an onboard spending credit, usually $20 to $30.

“Cruise Planners’ agents have not experienced a notable amount of cancellations due to the outbreak, thankfully. The cruise lines have done a superb job of keeping us up to date, and in turn, our Cruise Planners agents have kept their clients informed and accommodated their needs,” Michelle Fee told us.

Most of the cruise lines plan to return to Mexico cruising as soon as May 10. Some are holding off until June. Naturally, that is a fluid situation as conditions could change at any time. In fact, if anything concern about the virus has lessened in the last few days. It is also notable that the West Coast ports of Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan have not been hotbeds of viral activity even in Mexico. most of the action has been between the East Coast city of Veracruz and Mexico City in the center.

For the record, here are the latest stats according to a May 2 article in the NY Times:

Worldwide there are still only 615 cases of swine flu confirmed.

Worldwide (including Mexico) only 17 people have died (all in Mexico but 1, but the one toddler in the U.S. who came from Mexico).

There are only 397 CONFIRMED CASES of swine flu in Mexico according to Mexico who has been sending their specimens to US and Canada.

There are only 160 confirmed cases in the United States according to the CDC.

To date only 13 people have been hospitalized with H1N1 in the US, the rest of the cases are SO mild the people are staying home.

I ask you, if this government REALLY believed this was an “eminent pandemic,” as CNN calls it every 15 minutes, would they really allow verified infected carriers to STAY HOME? Only 13 people are hospitalized and only 160 cases are confirmed in the U.S.

I have a hard time calling that an epidemic at all, let alone a world pandemic.

Related posts:

1. Cruise Lines Venturing Back to Mexico
2. Should You Cancel Your Mexico Cruise?
3. Stand Up for Your Right to Cruise

The site has become so popular that he can attract hundreds of people to book a Carnival cruise simply by announcing he will be onboard to host special events and indulge in a great deal of Carnival Fun Ship mayhem, John Heald style.

Naturally, when you get a lot of people on board a ship who are there primarily because they love the cruise line you are going to hear their opinions as to why they love it. They are also going to mention anything they don’t love about the ship.

I have to say, despite the image and rumors about Carnival Cruise Lines people, you will be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated group of cruisers to any one cruise line. The people sailing on this cruise love Carnival, and I will tell you why…

Carnival is hands-down the most successful cruise line ever. Over the years the company has made enough money to swallow up much of its competition including Princess, Holland America, Cunard, the Italian cruise line Costa Crociere and the small luxury line Seabourn. Carnival currently has 22 ships in operation with two more, the biggest Carnival ships yet, on the way and already being booked. Add in all the ships of the five other Carnival Corp. (the parent company to Carnival Cruise Lines) cruise lines and you have a total fleet of 85 ships in service today, with more on the way.

Carnival Cruise Lines, the Fun Ships, created this cruise empire and made CEO Micky Arison one of the world’s 100 richest people. When still only about 17% of the U.S. population has ever even been on a cruise, for Carnival to have that kind of success they must be doing something right, right? Right.

What do Carnival cruisers love about Carnival? Based on the comments I heard repeatedly here it is…

First of all, Carnival Cruise Lines has surprisingly good food. Food is important to cruisers because its included in the cruise fare. That means that the better it is the more value you are getting for your vacation dollar. Carnival offers delectible appetizers, salads, soups and entrees nightly. You can get a flat iron steak any night of the week – no extra charge. And they aren’t skimpy – averaging over 10 ounces, shrimp cocktails with real prawns, not those mealy keyring-sized shrimpy shrimp. Caeser Salad with freshly grated parmesan and crunchy croutons, lobster tail with hot drawn butter. Dessert is Chocolate Melting Cake, so popular over 88,000 portions are served every week on Carnival ships.

I have heard seasoned cruise professionals say Carnival has the best food of any cruise line. Syndicated radio food and travel expert, Pierre Wolfe (www.pierrewolfe.com) says Carnival’s alternative dining spots are truly the best anywhere – with food better than cruise lines costing 10 times as much as Carnival cruise.

Great food. What else has Carnival got? Carnival has fun. Every night in the Carnival dining rooms the waiters sing and dance for you. They interact and act goofy, but in fact they are smart. One thing I have noticed lately on other cruise lines is waiters who do not speak very good English. I was on Holland America and endured a waiter who had an infuriating habit. He would pretend he heard me when in fact he did not – every time. I ordered an appetizer on an “audible.” – just deciding I wanted it at the last minute. I asked him for it and he mumbled back to me something that sounded like what I had said – so I nodded my head. That plate never arrived. Neither was their an apology for that because he didn’t hear me. This was typical for the cruise.

Our waitress on this recent Carnival Blogger’s cruise was a true jewel. A delightful young lady from Thailand who was incredibly efficient – never missed a beat, pretty and fully conversant in English. First, lady waitresses are rare on cruise ships, and being a guy I like them. But most important, she was not the exception, Carnival waiters are not just service people, they are a big part of the Carnival experience, they also talk to you, sing and even dance for you, every night. Yes, it is a little corny, but they don’t overdo it and even the most curmudgeonly cracks a smile eventually. Most people love the antics. It is emblematic of why carnival is known as the “Fun Ships.”

Carnival room stewards are also equally professional, but not nearly as intrusive. This is how I prefer it. I don’t really want my room steward to stick around and ask me a lot of questions like “you go to shore today?”, “you have fun?”, “you have good time, right?”, “good, good time.” That’s just me, a lot of people love interacting with their room stewards, but because I have worked on ships I know these people are very nice and professional, but their lifes are in reality very different from ours and in fact they don’t really relate to our feelings as much as one might think. That is not a bad thing – just life in the real world.

Still, back to the point, one reason Carnival crew and staff people are exemplary is because Carnival has excellent employee retention. This gives each employee a consistent opportunity to learn and contribute to the Carnival time-proven “Fun Ships” formula. A proven formula applied consistenly gives Carnival the competitive edge; fun times with great food and service. Also at a great price.

Now I would like to hear from Canival fans and fans of other cruise lines, especially Royal Caribbean and NCL (because they are in the same class as Carnival). Do you agree Carnival has the winningest formula with the best food and service, or is this theory all wet?

Related posts:

1. Carnival Splendor Returns to Service
2. Cruise Sales for Carnival, NCL and Royal Caribbean
3. Cruise Questions People Ask That May Be Real

Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) announced its first profitable quarter in two years, actually reporting a $171.2 million profit for the quarter just ended. This is good news, as the company’s parent company, Apollo Management , is the same investment group currently holding going out of business sales at another of their investments, retail stores Linens and Things.

NCL has a new CEO, Kevin Sheehan, upon the departure of the popular Colin Veitch who took over the position some eight years ago. Veitch and Andy Stuart, EVP of almost everything during the same period, ushered in the Free-style era at NCL, practically turning the long-standing concept of how cruises should be conducted on its ear.

Veitch moved over to an advisory role to the board of directors. Stuart has been appointed executive vice president of global sales and passenger services. Kevin Sheehan was NCL’s president and chief financial officer.

Royal Caribbean has a new TV ad campaign called “Why Not?” It shows people on cruise ships having fun and asks them if they are thinking about joiniong them. Indeed, you have to give the cruise industry credit for continuing to advertise actually even more when times get tough. Cruise lines know that when the economy gets tough the value equation of cruises actually becomes more appealing to vacationers. After all, there are incredible bargains out there, and once you get onboard you are in control of how much you spend. If you choose to easy on drinks and tours, you can actually have an incredibly inexpensive vacation.

What kinds of unbelievable bargans are we seeing this week? Some of the ones the press has picked up include an 8-day Caribbean cruise on the POSH Cunard Queen Mary 2 for eight days for $499. Our own newsletter shows a 7-night NCL cruise starting at $249 perp person. That is a jaw-dropping price.7-night Princess cruises to Mexico are currently selling for $375.

On the other end of the scale, Crystal Cruises tells me they couldn’t be feeling any better about how they are weathering what appears to be the worst since 9/11 for many other cruise lines. Mimi Weisband tells me…

“As for Crystal, we feel the luxury market is not immune, but it is more resistant. Luxury travelers are going to rely on brands they can trust, reputation and consistency – which is why the message of 15 years of Conde Nast Traveler awards (and this year with one of our highest margins over large and small ships) and 13 consecutive years of Travel & Leisure awards (also higher than any large or small ship) is a powerful tool.

We are less than 2% down for 2008 and already farther ahead for our 2010 World Cruise than where we were at this time last year for our 2009 World Cruise. 2009 is softer but we’re still confident that we’ll get through it.

With a more discerning customer, Crystal is in a good position.”

Well, I can certainly see her point. First of all, Crystal is West Coast based, and although real estate prices have been hurt there, they do not have nearly the same problems as Wall Street or the factory regions. Crystal is a great cruise line, as are the other luxury lines; Silversea, Regent and Seabourn.

Speaking of 9/11 – is this current crisis in cruise sales anything like that event? The short answer is “no.” That was a travel “scare.” People were actually afraid to fly and felt like targets in airports and even ships. This is purely about money. people are reticent to spend. personally, I am hoping for a good Christmas because in reality very little has changed for most people and there is little reason we could return to normal in a reasonable amount of time.

Related posts:

1. Cruise Sales for Carnival, NCL and Royal Caribbean
2. Columbus Day Cruise Updates
3. Summer Cruises – Havin’ a Heatwave