SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- As the mysterious severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) continues to spread in Asia, Princess Cruises
issued an advisory for its April 8 Regal Princess cruise:
Passengers who fly to Bangkok via Singapore or Hong Kong won't be
allowed on the ship.
Meanwhile, Crystal Cruises and Holland America Line made
last-minute itinerary changes to avoid calling in Hong Kong.
The changes came a day after the World Health Organization
recommended travelers consider postponing nonessential travel to
Hong Kong due to the continuing spread of SARS.
Princess is routing both inbound and outbound clients who booked
air with the line away from those two Asian cities, and it advised
agents with clients who have independent air arrangements to do the
same.
The Regal Princess also skipped its April 3 call in
Singapore.
A spokeswoman for Princess said agents are encouraged to contact
the line. "We hope they understand we're doing this to protect
everybody," she said. "We err on the side of caution."
The Regal Princess' April 8 cruise hits hot spots from start to
finish: After leaving the SARS-troubled Asia region, the original
schedule calls for visits to several Egyptian ports, a Suez Canal
transit and calls in Turkey.
Executive vice president of sales Dean Brown said Princess has
outlined alternative ports of call the Regal Princess can utilize
-- if necessary. "This is a 30 day cruise," he said, "and those
dates are further down the line."
Crystal altered its April 3 and April 15 cruises on the Crystal
Harmony and replaced Hong Kong with Yokohama, Japan. A spokeswoman
said the line will assist passengers in new flight
arrangements.
Passengers who sailed on the April 3 cruise were offered a $250
future cruise credit; those on the April 15 cruise were offered a
$500 cruise credit. Passengers on both cruises and the unchanged
April 24 cruise from Beijing to Yokohama were offered the
opportunity to cancel and rebook by the end of 2003.
HAL's Prinsendam, meanwhile, substituted calls in mainland China
and Hong Kong with calls in Japan, South Korea and Russia. The
April 11 and 25th cruises are affected.
The April 11 cruise will sail roundtrip from Osaka, Japan,
instead of to Hong Kong. the April 25 voyage will sail from Osaka
to San Francisco.