The unfortunate reality of cruising in 2024.
We first noticed the problem within 24 hours of boarding the magnificent Regent Seven Seas Grandeur on August 24, 2024. One day into the 16 day trans-Atlantic voyage from Barcelona to New York City, my partner and I commented “There sure are a lot of sick people on this ship.”
During the six weeks we were traveling around Europe prior to beginning the cruise, we had read and seen the daily news reports from the United States indicating that Covid was making a big comeback and levels of the infection were the highest in two years. We weren’t worried because we were up to date with vaccinations and brought test kits and Paxlovid with us, just as a precaution. Fortunately, we traveled throughout Europe happy and healthy.
So seeing the level of obvious illness on the ship was disturbing. The ship echoed with a constant cacophony of coughing, sneezing, and hacking yet there was almost zero masking.
In La Veranda buffet, I witnessed a passenger sneeze into her hand then pick up the tongs to load lettuce onto her plate then wade through the salad bar using the same hand to add tomatoes, onions, etc (I moved on to another salad bar outside but thought how others would likely now fall ill because of her inconsideration).
In the library, a woman sat in a corner loudly coughing and sneezing about every 15 seconds, no mask, likely spreading whatever she had to others in the close quarters. I thought her cabin mate probably told her she was so sick to get out of the stateroom and go somewhere else.
By day three, the ship made an announcement that passengers must increase hand washing and begin masking if they were ill. Masking increased somewhat, but by then, it was too late.
On previous cruises we have taken (this is our 35th cruise), cruise lines like Celebrity and Crystal have implemented urgent safety measures including no more self service at buffets and in some cases, mandatory masking when illness became apparent. But that was not the case on this Regent cruise. While the Captain made the decision to scrub one port stop in The Azores because unfavorable winds made docking difficult (all done for “the safety of passengers and crew”), no such safety measures were implemented to address the levels of illness on the ship.
Sure enough, on the tenth day of the cruise, I caught a very mild cold. Unfortunately, the suitcase I had which contained cold medicine (and Paxlovid) was stolen while in Barcelona so I couldn’t self medicate. Being in the middle of four days at sea and unable to visit a drug store, I made the mistake of going to the ship clinic (and yes, I was masked). There, I tested positive for Covid. The doctor said I was the fourth person he was treating at the time for Covid, but added there were indeed a lot of sicker people on board who would not come to the clinic and there was nothing they could do to adequately track the rate of illness on board.
As with my prior bout with Covid, Paxlovid knocked it down quickly and within two days I was 100% back to normal. All symptoms are gone. But the impact lingers. I am now quarantined in my stateroom for the remainder of the cruise. Twice a day, I get a phone call making sure I am abiding by the quarantine. When I asked if I could at least walk up the stairs to the top deck (masked) and get some exercise walking in the open air, I was told absolutely not, and they would know if I did. When I pointed out that their regulations do not match those that the CDC issued in March of this year, their reaction was that they don’t go by the CDC rules, they have their own.
I have trip insurance that would reimburse me should I need to leave the ship, so I asked the doctor if he would authorize me to get off at the next stop in Portland, Maine. He said no, I needed to stay on board (without a doctor order, the insurance will not pay).
My partner is fine and is able to continue all activities including shore tours, etc. As a courtesy to others, he is now masking. Coming back from a tour yesterday, he again commented on the obvious illness which has only increased among passengers. While they remain ill and going about their cruise, the conscientious passengers (some may call them stupid) who went to the clinic are treated like lepers in their own private leper colony.
Cruise lines are understandably scared of losing passengers as it decimated the industry during the Covid shutdown. A mere hint of illness onboard sends shudders throughout the industry to the point that it seems best to ignore the issue rather than acknowledge it. And that attitude has perhaps lead to the current situation here on Regent.
Had Regent and its parent company NCL taken steps to better safeguard their passengers (as Celebrity and Crystal did on previous cruises) early in the cruise, many of us on board would not be in the situation we are, spending thousands of dollars to be confined to a floating bedroom 24 hours a day.
