Coronavirus & Your Honeymoon: What Should You Do?

'Being safe' has an all new meaning for honeymoons right now! So yea, the situation seems pretty scary. Coronavirus is spreading like crazy, and there seems to be panic that's gripping everyone, globally. Apart from loads of trips that are planned which now hang in the balance, there are lots of honeymooners too who are now left in the lurch. So what do you do if your honeymoon bookings are all done maybe now or a couple of months from now, and you're confused? Well, here we try our best to address that concern. 

Image via Mohamed Nasheh

So, how scary is the situation?

The point here is not to spread panic, but to talk about the facts. The biggest worry with Coronavirus is the fact that not much is known about this particular virus strain. We know it is spreading rapidly, and the scariest part is, that no one knows how exactly it is transmitted, but the transmission is pretty fast. One thing is for sure that proper hand hygiene and maintaining a safe distance from others could help, at least that's what is being said at the moment. That being said, when healthy young adults do get it, the mortality is pretty low, as a healthy immune system is able to fight it off, eventually. The virus has an incubation period of 14 days, after which it begins to show symptoms. 

Should I go ahead with my honeymoon?

First up, decide one thing, and both of you should be on the same page about it. Do you still want to go for your honeymoon, or would you rather wait it out? We would strongly advise you to postpone!

It is advisable to avoid travelling if nothing is booked- probably postpone plans for your honeymoon, and do it at a later time when you won't have that overriding fear looming over both of you that could take a toll on the fun during the honeymoon. But if you still want to go ahead, we would recommend getting fully refundable airline and hotel bookings done, so that you can save your losses. Getting travel insurance right now is a great idea too which covers any sort of cancellation. 

Where should we not go? 

Now this list may sound exhaustive and disheartening, but we are just putting it out there as a precaution. These are the countries where at least 2 or more cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed. So check before you book. In the meantime, here are countries which should be certainly avoided as of now:

• China
• Italy
• South Korea
• Iran
• Japan
• Singapore
• Hong Kong

These are a few of the honeymoon-worthy regions with the highest number of cases but now, because of the global widespread, even countries earlier not affected, like Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain etc are also now reporting confirmed cases. So, as a precaution, avoid these countries, which have confirmed cases, and the numbers growing fast:

• European continent all together, specially France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and even Belgium.
• UK has quite a few cases, and the numbers are rising. 
• Scandinavian countries like Finland and Denmark, which have confirmed cases.
• US is seeing a surge in cases too, with over a 100 confirmed cases.
• As for Middle East, UAE has cases coming in everyday, so postpone that Dubai honeymoon. Other countries to avoid in Middle East are Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, and even Jordan. 
• South East Asia- Singapore and Thailand have quite a few cases, and numbers are climbing fast in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam among other countries.
• Australia and New Zealand also have reported cases, and even one death. 

Are there any destinations to consider for a honeymoon right now?

So if the number of Coronavirus cases are anything to go by, then we would say smaller island nations are currently your best bet, yes, even more than a trip to Goa or Rajasthan. The flights to these countries are limited, and so is the exposure to others. While we strongly advise you to postpone your honeymoon, if you have to go, these countries are your best bet with no reported cases, as of March 4, 2020. These could be planned in a crunch if you have to have to go for your honeymoon right now- we suggest if you have to, go to a place which has visa on arrival too and the flights are not super long either.

• Maldives
• Mauritius
• Seychelles 
• South Africa and other African nations (hardly any cases reported)
• South America (only a few cases reported)

What if the honeymoon is already booked?

That being said, if your honeymoon is already booked, then what do you do? One thing is certain, if your honeymoon booked to any of the countries which have a travel advisory against them, like currently Italy and South Korea do, then it is best not to go ahead with the trip, since you cannot enter India for 14 days after visiting these countries. Cruises are best avoided right now too. If you have bookings in any of these countries, you might still be able to make a case, especially if you got travel insurance, but you'll have to check with your operator. 

With the numbers increasing rapidly, advisories could come for a lot of other countries too, so if you're heading to a country, say like Singapore, or South East Asia where the count is rapidly climbing, we would say it's best avoided too. 

Those planning trips to destinations where the coronavirus is present are encouraged to “avoid contact with sick people and clean their hands often by washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.”

But what about financial losses?

So know one thing clearly. Everyone seems to be confused and in the lurch about his global pandemic, so don't be stressed if everyone seems to be clueless about it. If you have made all your bookings already, then you still would have a couple of options:

• Check with your travel insurance, if had purchased it. Fear of a virus typically isn’t a covered reason for claiming a refund, unless you purchase an expensive kind of coverage called ‘cancel for any reason.’
• Speak to your travel agent, if you've booked through one or even online ones. Most of them are OK with postponing the whole trip as it is. You can also consider speaking to them to get credit if they cannot refund your money, so you can plan the trip another time.
• Airlines are a different ballgame. Refundable tickets are something that could come to your rescue if you have them. Consider your money gone if you're cancelling non-refundable tickets. Paying extra charges to reschedule them to later in the year could be a feasible option. 
• If you made individual hotel bookings yourself, then this could be dealt with on a case to case basis. Many hotel chains are refunding the money despite taking a hit themselves.
• Since most of the expensive visas like Schengen, UK and US have a long validity, you might not end up wasting this money. 

Hope this helps!