Despite numerous warnings from health officials to avoid large groups of people due to coronavirus, the Happy Valley cruise went on as planned.

The group of 171 people, made up of Penn State University alumni and fans, benefits the Special Olympics. Originally, 198 were scheduled to be on the cruise.

Tom Peeling, former news editor of The Palm Beach Post, has been aboard the Celebrity Infinity cruise ship all week. The group, which departed from Port Miami, will spend five nights on the cruise ship. Stops will include Key West, and Cozumel, Mexico.

Among the Penn State group are Sue Paterno, widow of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno; NFL Hall-of-Famer Franco Harris, and NFL star running back and College Football Hall-of-Famer Lydell Mitchell. All of which fall into the age group most affected by coronavirus - age 60 and over, reports Peeling.

Sue Paterno, at age 80, is considered the matriarch of the group, and according to Peeling, she might be the oldest person aboard the ship.

Prior to the trip the cruise line emailed a warning that no one could board ship if they had visited a select group of countries and that temperatures would be taken before boarding, according to The Palm Beach Post. A temperature of 100.4 or above meant one could not board.

What’s it like on the ship?

There is lots of hand sanitizer.

Peeling reports that “crew members are in front of the main dining hall entrances with large bags of sanitizer encouraging everyone to use it.” One crew member recites this little ditty while squirting sanitizer: “The more you sanitize, the happier you will be, while at sea, on Celebrity,” quotes Peeling.

Many passengers carry mini bottles of hand sanitizer with them and Peeling says crew members are wiping handrails and vacuuming air vents in the ceiling. Signs posted inside public bathroom doors aboard ship, ask folks to use a hand towel or tissue to open the door, and avoid the metal doorknob.

“Everybody’s doing the elbows,” Sue Paterno said, in reference to the new greeting of tapping elbows together. Peeling reports that common sense is prevailing, with few hugs or hand shakes, and overall there is very little talk of the virus on the ship.

Peeling notes that “one crew member said there have been a couple early-morning meetings about the virus, but crew members were told not to mention it unless a passenger brought it up.”

Eileen Miner, the group’s travel agent and a 44-year veteran of the business, said she thinks the virus news has been “blown out of proportion.”

“It’s OK to warn us. It’s a serious thing. But to tell us to stop living is wrong."

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



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