dive4pam

12 minutes ago, lee8553 said:

True, I know of someone (friend of a friend) who's ship also had these type health problems in that area last month, not sure of line, but definitely not Azamara, I believe they may even have been refused entry at 1 port.

That would be NCL dawn - refused entry for 2 days in Mauritius - it was an embarkation point so it inconvenienced people debarking - missed flights, hotels etc. as well as those preparing to embark. 

On 3/8/2024 at 1:50 PM, Brian111 said:

I boarded in Capetown on Feb 8 and became very ill from Feb 16. I had a fever, shivering, queezy stomach and could not eat for 5 days. I collapsed when boarding the plane to fly home but my wife somehow got me on. At the same time she had GI issues and is still suffering. We will never sail with Aramara again.

Better eliminate all the lines that had problems on the same route- NCL, Cunard, MSC ARE THE ONES I know of - could be more.  Regent voyager in South America had issues as well.  

3 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Really don't think it's Azamara's fault, the ship is being cleaned continuously, anyone with GI issues who reports to the medical department is being quarantined, we are being urged to wash our hands, pool is closed, all food is served. Of course the unknown is how many people had issues and haven't seen the doctor, so continued to walk around the ship. Also how many were not careful about hand washing - I've seen people walk out of the toilets without washing their hands.

Yes the medical consultation and treatment is free and you get a days future cruise credit for every day quarantined.

Couldn’t agree more !

On 3/2/2024 at 9:30 AM, FlossieC said:

We are due to board on the 9th March in Gran Canaria so this a little worrying.

 

Be grateful for any further updates please

Get some Imodium and bring it onboatd

On 1/28/2023 at 3:16 PM, vtgumby said:

We just got off the Pursuit and met quite a few Oceania cruisers and the overwhelming thoughts about Azamara versus Oceania was that Oceania won hands-down. We used to be loyal Azamara cruisers and our last cruise with them was January 2020, it was superb. However, the food has taken a big hit and the service has gone downhill also, it was actually quite disappointing and we thought what has happened? So much so that I don’t see us taking another cruise with them for some time. Three new couples to Azamara said never again and they raved about Oceania. I didn’t bother to ask if they had been on Oceania since Covid because like I mentioned, we used to be cheerleaders for Azamara, but no more after this last experience. I understand they’re trying to make money back after Covid but the food has become average, they ran out of items immediately such as bagels on day 2, escargot left a few days later, and that’s just bad provisioning for a 17 day cruise. A week into the cruise and the dining room had a whole list of things that were no longer available. Service is also taking a hit and we noticed in the Buffet that getting water and wine almost became a self service situation, servers would literally walk by people with empty trays and we just figured out to go up and get our own water and wine and then other people were asking us how we got our water and wine and we told them we helped ourselves. That isn’t the normal Azamara service we have become accustomed to, quite sad because we really did love this line but after this last cruise not so much.

Looking forward to great (I hope) food and service on Oceania in April for 28 days!

You need to read my posts on oceania- currently sailing on marina ending a 51 night cruise in SA.  Service and attitude- horrible- lots of first time cruisers with Oceania- say "NEVER AGAIN"  and the food- weird is a nice term for some of their "gourmet" specialty items.  I have been sickened twice by the food and not the only passenger with this experience.  Once happened 4 hours after a meal in Jaques and once after the Terrace Cafe.   On Insignia last spring- running out of food was the norm.  this cruise was a bit better but clearly running out of "fresh fruit and salads fixings" at the end of each leg.  I can forgive that but not the poor service, hostile staff attitudes toward complaints  and the "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" responses to constant issues with shore excursions, late to port and the most intolerable of it all, "cutting port times in order to lessen our carbon footprint"- so good luck in april- this is our last Oceania!

5 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

I just want to clarify, because it's not entirely clear, and won't be at all clear to anyone reading this post in isolation... Can you confirm that the first half of your post (I've highlighted in blue above) relates to Azamara, and the second half (in red) to Oceania?

Yes the second 1/2 relates to Oceania.  I will see If I can add as an edit.  Thanks for pointing out that in isolation its not clear.

Pam

21 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

Dive4pam, thanks for your review. I have not yet sailed on either of these lines butmi am looking closely at them both. Like you, itinerary drives our decisions. 
I do have a question though. You mention that Marina needs freshening up - which I understand is scheduled soon. In reading these boards, I do read quite a number of remarks about Azamara ships looking their age - that they are also in need of some TLC. I wonder if you could speak to that comparison. 
‘thank you 

I have not sailed Azamara post-pandemic.  the Onward is brand new and so I assume is gorgeous.  But again, what is of utmost importance to me is service and attitude as well as port time.  I forgot to add that the azamazing evenings have been nothing short of spectacular where the entire ship is invited for an evening on land for music or show.  In Wellington- we were in the cathedral for a Maori choir- I still cry when I hear them on the video we purchased.  I heard more horror stories at lunch today from how the staff aboard this ship has been rude and at times hostile regarding passenger complaints.  I also don't care for how they handle medical issues.  By the time we get off on tuesday, we will have spent close to $100,000 this year with them.  I don't plan to spend any more.  I can't see how they will survive as a cruise line given the number of unhappy people on our cruise (most of whom are younger and new to cruising)  I think they build in loyalty and those older folks have not been on other cruise lines to compare- they just accept this attitude and non communication as part of cruising.  There are too many great cruise lines in the water and too many new ships to put up with this sort of attitude and service.  Good luck making your decision.

I am currently sailing on Oceania marina in South america.  This is day 44 for us out of 51.  This is the second cruise on oceania in less than 1 year- our other was a crossing on Insignia.  We were in a PH1 on Insignia which had just been refurbed.  Now we are in a concierge Balcony on marina which is scheduled for a refurb May 2024 and it needs it.  Everything in the stateroom is fine except the closet rattles in rough seas.  We just returned from Antartica and so trust me- things were rattling alot.  We are done with Oceania.  The food is not the best at sea and is downright weird sometimes.  I was sickened more than once by seafood undercooked- one of the episodes lasted 10 days.  The staff is going through the motions and the officers don't hold a candle to Azamara.  We love Cpt Smith- chatty as can be but always kept us informed and we did 6 weeks with him in australia/nz B2Bs.  The final straw for us is that NCLH who owns Oceania has cut times in port which has very much affected all of our tours.  We have been late to most ports and leave on time.  This takes my 7 hour tour down to 5.5 or less.  The stated reason for these port times being shortened,  "to lessen our environmental impact".  We were running slower which saves Oceania on fuel.  We missed Port Stanley entirely which was a huge disappointment to many of us on the 51 night trip.  the captain speaks to us rarely and then only briefly- none of the senior officers are seen about the ship unless passing through a room.  To be honest, the most important thing to me on a ship is the itinerary and a ship is a floating hotel for us.  I want ice 2x per day in my room and beyond that not much else.   we found our butler on insignia to be quite unfriendly.  We ran out of food from missing so many ports on Insignia- lots of excuses most of which I don't believe.  The shorter port stays though will be the undoing of the line- lots of unhappy people on this cruise and I hear that its on their other ships as well from following the blogs.  You have little enough time in ports so cutting them short for the "sake of the environment" really??? Stick with Azamara- I never felt lied to on that line and on this one- I just don't trust anyone.  I love the fact that more overnights and longer stays in port is the Azamara way- certainly isn't NCLH's way.  If the line was really worried- they would have set about upgrading their ships like Celebrity has done- the ash coming out of our stacks on Marina vx. celebrity steam on the Edge class is a startling difference.  If Celebrity had the itineraries, I would be forever on their ships.

27 minutes ago, Jockocruiser said:

Besides a great cruise, I was looking forward to meeting some of you fine folks I’ve gotten to know here on CC.  So sorry we didn’t get to share stories, tours, and an adult beverage or two.☹️  I was looking forward to leaning about wine 🍷from Sandy, and discussing politics with Pam.😀

 

Unfortunately, we now only have speculation as to the reasons for cancellations and mistrust of this cruise line.  Cruisemapper AIS shows Marina heading to Bridgetown.  One would have thought that she could have at least made the round trip to San Antonio and back.  Such a Charlie foxtrot  for those poor folks on the 08Jan segment who were already on their way, or in Argentina.

I wonder if they gave them an option to stay on the ship and go back to MIA.  At least they could have had days at sea.  If marina is taking the place of Sirena to do the Carribean- hmm would that be posted ?

I'm certain the ultimate issue was the cancellation of Brazil and they knew all along Brazil was out  of the question- they should have known that in mid-December.  Gotta love those automated emails we kept getting but no REAL communication about what was going on behind the scenes.  Like the malaria and yellow fever one, the australian add on charge in Chile and finally the "checkin" notice.  Made me sad yesterday- it coincided with my retirement day.  It was like rubbing salt in the wound!

47 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Someone on Edge posted this on FB, trying to share facts of being quarantined…interesting! 

 

I wanted to share my experience being isolated/quarantined recently on the Edge. I'm going to be as factual as possible, rather than the emotional responses I've seen from others. I recognize others' experiences may differ. I hope this information is helpful to those deciding whether or not to cruise. Note that any of this can change at any time, so your best bet is to call Celebrity. The definitions below are quarantine (you are cordoned off due to possible exposure) and isolation (you are cordoned off in a dedicated area due to positive covid test).

Celebrity is following a minimum standard of the CDC maritime guidelines. These are different than the land-based guidelines many people refer to. In some cases, Celebrity is more stringent than even the maritime guidelines.

It's possible to test negative and still have contracted Covid. This is what happened to me; we were on a back-to-back. The first cruise had about 1400 people; the second 1800. The day before the turnover, we tested negative. The next day - first day of the second cruise - I fell ill around midnight. The medical staff original said, "you just tested negative, it's probably a cold". Nope. From then, I remained in isolation for the entire second cruise.

If you have close contact with someone who tests positive you will be quarantined. I don't know an official definition of close contact, but we were told things like 5 feet and more than 15 minutes cumulative in 24 hours. They contact trace by interviewing the covid+ person and retracing their steps through the video. Facial recognition matches anyone seen in close contact to the guest folio. Anyone - regardless of booster status - is quarantined. Quarantine is for 24 hours, with a covid test at the beginning and end. If both are negative, you are free to go. You quarantine in your original stateroom.

If you test positive, you are given some time to pack up belongings and you are isolated in the red zone. This is a CDC requirement. The red zone is the fore portion of Deck 3. They are regular porthole cabins - the same that you would book if you booked a porthole room. They are the size of a regular balcony cabin, minus the balcony. They are not "in the bowels of the ship" or some kind of especially small or poorly appointed room. You will be isolated according to CDC guideline for 10 days (or the end of your cruise if it's shorter), pending Celebrity's ability to get you home (more on that in a moment).

During quarantine or isolation, you are not to leave your room. If you do, you risk being arrested by security - which is legal under maritime law. Your door is not locked (contrary to what others have said); in fact, it is open so you can leave out trash and they can deliver food or supplies in a contactless manner. There is no "armed security" as some have suggested; they video monitor and also have staff who calls the room. You are required to stay in; if you leave, you subject yourself to potentially being arrested.

For both quarantine or isolation, you have access to all restaurant menus (not just the limited room service), including alcohol. There is 24-hour service available, but they call proactively during regualr mealtimes.

For isolation (not sure about quarantine), they upgrade your internet and unlock all movies at no cost. The nurse staff was in contact with me two or three times daily. We had a coordinator for covid-specific protocols who called almost daily. The front desk called twice daily to see if there was anything we needed. As an example, they delivered a kettle to my room and a selection of coffees/teas so I could have hot-hot beverages and not have to go through room service. I believe smoking guests were given permission to smoke in their rooms if they needed to.

In short, they did everything reasonable to make our time in isolation as pleasant as it could be. My husband tested positive the day after I did. We elected to isolate in separate rooms, as we were both sick. We kept in touch via our phone messenger.

It was not without hiccups. Toward the end of the cruise, they had enough isolation and crew quarantines to overflow from deck 3 to another location. During these times, room service was often delayed.

Celebrity makes reasonable attempts to get you home during the cruise. In short, it's a liability on multiple fronts to have covid+ guests on the ship. They were pretty frank with us; given the number of cases and the holidays, there were simply no qualified charter flights from any of our remaining port stops to get us home.

Prior to landfall, our coordinator recommended we make land-based arrangements to finish out our isolation. We were given a generous allowance (currently $350/day) and an allowance for food ($100/day). We were responsible to rebook our flights, but Celebrity would cover any change costs (we had none). Celebrity handled arrangements to transfer us from the port to our Miami hotel in a private limo.

We will be reimbursed for these costs, and will receive a pro-rata refund (as future cruise credit) for the entire time we were impacted. This is written as part of your contract of carriage; I personally find it a generous and reassuring offer.

We honestly thought it wasn't that bad. It's not the vacation we wanted, but it's the vacation we got. Assuming you're not a terrible person, if you contract covid at home you'd isolate as well. Honestly, I had a water view, internet, and 24-hour room service. I felt I could've done worse. While I was quite ill, I was never in danger of being hospitalized. Nonetheless, I was reassured with the regular medical attention. 

I can understand why others found it horrible; we attempted to make the best of it. Celebrity tried hard to make it as enjoyable as possible.

If you are slated to cruise, I would weigh the possibility of being quarantined and isolated: while not ideal, could you manage it? While they did not disclose the actual number of guests who contracted Covid (contrary to what others have mentioned), we had a little group chat going and my best guess is the high single-digit / low double-digit. The number of crew was high - between quarantine and isolation, there were almost no entertainment staff, spa staff, and things were getting stretched thin. What does this mean for chances? That's really up to your risk tolerance. Keep in mind, you're subject to the ship's rules while onboard and at sea - legally - so be prepared to comply.

Would we do it again? If we knew we'd test positive - probably not. But would we cruise again? Absolutely. I think the biggest takeaway we had is that with everyone traveling for the holidays, the amount of potential exposure, even by proxy, was such that risk was magnified. We would seek to book a less busy time.

We dubbed our experience "Quaranae" - Celebrity's most exclusive service tier. "Quaranae(tm) isn't a place. It isn't an amenity. It isn't a service. It's all of this and more."
EDIT: Thank you for all the well wishes! We are indeed feeling much better, though not yet 100%.

Thank you for posting- so well balanced. I was quarantined in 2014 on the Infinity for having a fever!  They blamed norovirus - its turned out (after I returned home) that I had dengue fever which is not transmissible person to person- it is mosquito borne.  My experience was awful- they sent me broth and crackers and jello- I had no GI sxs and i was so angry I missed our final specialty dining and spent 2 days locked in my cabin in misery.  Your experience was much better than mine.  FYI- we just got off the Edge the week after thanksgiving- it was fabulous and would get back on Jan 8 but for fear of quarantine.

7 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

dive4pam, I understand completely....

we are on the Jan 18, 2023, will probably try to move it to 2024 when it comes out, but will see, if too many obstacles or loss of benefits we now have, will just cancel it....

 

seems to me we will be facing this for several winters to come, making a decision in the summer when it is final payment, is ridiculous.....

 

covid is seasonal....that is MHO....

Yes this will be like colds and flu for the remainder of my life and I'm getting too old to put up with masks and all of this nonsense.

Have to say that last summer we almost switched to the world cruise- so glad we didn't that has been gutted as well- at sea caribbean, etc.  all places I could care less about going.  Yes they should have seen this coming since NOV. really- I don't quite understand what the additional rules from argentina and uruguay are- I can't find them anywhere.  I agree- they must have alot of + onboard or they are invoking the policy in existence with argentina for testing every 3-5 days- to that I agree with Oceania- its a ridiculous ask of the cruise lines especially when many folks that test + are totally asymptomatic.  We really got our booster in Nov because of Chile's rules and now we will likely need a 4th one for Europe in June since we will be >6 mos and I am certain they are going to go down that road......ugh.

We will have 2 other variants by then and are we going to keep all of this nonsense up with masks indoors and outdoors and continuous boosters?  Lets hope the CDC butts out next week.  They are the drivers of all of this testing stuff constantly.  There is no quality control for this testing- any minimum wage person can be 'trained" to do it.  This would never fly in a hospital or real lab setting.  NCL wsa testing out doors at the port in Nov. - out in the open air- I know someone who saw all the positive tests in front of him and decided to go to a "real Lab" nearby- he tested - and got on the ship.  

I am really disappointed in missing this trip- I retired from my company and left earlier than I would have in order to take this trip.  I think at this point, I am just sad- been angry since early December when I couldn't get answers from O despite all the daily data looking bad.........

23 minutes ago, Jockocruiser said:

@HiFi43well didn’t you have personal communication with the Oceania senior execs, why didn’t you know about this?😄

 

It will be a cold day in hell before Oceania gets my business again. Done with them.

 

While I might understand that this was impacted by SA governments, O's total lack of communication was irresponsible.  

yes, I agree and am just glad this ordeal is over- back to celebrity and maybe silverseas now owned by royal caribbean.  I feel for all for the folks with nonrefundable tickets- I never quite trusted this trip from october on when Brazil announced opening only to cruising along its shores.  Oceania needs to up their communication game for certain.  They have lost us as a customer.

On 12/30/2021 at 7:57 PM, weinberghr1 said:

Brazil can allow exceptions . With the large number of Brazilian ports for this cruise some remote it is possible that the cruise generates enough revenue for governments to allow it .. Silverseas had only 3-4 stops in Brazil . 

 

Rio is a turn port so lots of logistical issues if ship can not dock in Rio . 

 

Options are many  Lots of Caribbean and Mexican Ports .

Could do partial Canal . Possibly but unlikely Cuba ( due to US restrictions)  Could head up to Bermuda . Could reverse course and go back along west Coast of South America and more stops in Central America  and Mexico Options . Probably unlikely as the toll for PC crossing is pretty steep . Could hit 3-4 US ports Galveston , New Orleans Mobile . Jacksonville , Savanah and possibly Charleston .

 

The ship is already deep in SA and Oceania 

will need to get the ship back to Miami for subsequent cruises snd they do not want the ship sitting empty in Miami 

 

As I said the other day they will not disclose Plan B before they are ready or forced to implement it 

 

Bookings likely shut off for many cruises today after CDC announcement . All cruise are sailing at significantly less than 100% 

 

Our options are sit tight and or cancel 

 

As we live in Midwest and expect snow and sub zero temps this weekend we are off to Puerto Vallerta next week and then to Buenos Aires on Feb 9 . As both places will be warm 

 

So we keep hoping the itinerary will hold if not Plan B is still better than staying home 

 

 

News from Brazil this afternoon- Extremely unlikely that Brazil will allow any cruising this season according to everything I am reading in the brazilian news- Anvisa has recommended all stop for the remainder of the cruise season:

Cruise ship companies have voluntarily decided to suspend new voyages in Brazil until January 21 of this year, "due to uncertainties in the interpretation and application of previously approved operating protocols," CLIA Brasil (Brazilian Cruise Ship Association) released today in the afternoon, by way of note. The suspension takes effect immediately for new departures and no tourists will be boarded until January 21, he said. However, according to the association, cruises currently in navigation must complete the itineraries as scheduled.... - Veja mais em https://noticias.uol.com.br/.../companhias-de-cruzeiros...

The UOL contacted MSC Cruises and Costa Cruises to know which affected travel and how passengers who had planned shipment this period should continue, and is awaiting return. Clia Brasil stated that the covid-19 cases identified on cruise ships consist of "a small minority of the total population on board" and that it seeks "alignment with federal government authorities, Anvisa, states and municipalities to resolve differences interpretation and application of measures previously approved with this new scenario". The association does not rule out the full cancellation of the current cruise season in Brazil after the end of this suspension "if there is no adequacy and alignment be... - Veja mais em https://noticias.uol.com.br/cotidiano/ultimas-noticias/2022/01/03/companhias-de-cruzeiros-suspendem-operacoes-no-brasil-ate-21-de-janeiro.htm?cmpid=copiaecola