Jump to content

SS Future Re-Open Plan: Timing, Testing Needs??!!


TLCOhio
 Share

Recommended Posts

6 hours ago, cece50 said:

It’s an interesting discussion.  I really don’t see full throttled festive cruising until

all this testing, vac mandates, restrictions, etc are well behind us.  There will always our intrepid cruisers who will sail undeterred by all this.  Best to them all.  I’m sure they are having a great time.  For us, a half empty ship with people wearing masks and being restricted to bubble excursions & the uncertainty of testing positive while in a foreign country has no appeal.  Until the US stops threatening to keep us out of our own country, we & the people we cruise with will wait it out.  I feel bad for the cruise industry as they are powerless in all this.  We continue to explore our beautiful country on land trips.  We will be watching developments but we are way too independent to cruise under these restrictions.  Too bad for us, as our three cruises on Seabourn & Silverseas  were the height of fun with full ships, lots of deck parties & sail always, full festive restaurants with staff smiles & fun exploring.  We miss it & are praying things get back to normal sooner rather than later.  This is in no way a criticism of our intrepid cruisers, but just a discussion on the question presented by DocRuth.  It will be interesting to watch the numbers as time goes by. 

 

 

We don’t consider ourselves intrepid and whilst the mask wearing is a bit of a pain we don’t have to keep them on all the time, unlike the staff who do. The daily temperature check is also a minor adjustment, but we are enjoying a stress free and relaxing cruise. And more importantly the crew are not only happy to see us back but overjoyed to be working again after 15 months of hell.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, cece50 said:

For us, a half empty ship with people wearing masks and being restricted to bubble excursions & the uncertainty of testing positive while in a foreign country has no appeal.  

 

Chris and I debated this for a while before deciding to go for it (we just did a 7d RT itinerary around Corsica, on Ponant). The masks were not a big deal (to us) but of course it would have been even more fun without that worry. Luckily, we were not restricted to bubble tours while in Corsica, and obviously a non-issue for our pre/post time in France as we were independent.

 

We vehemently agree with you that bubble tours would be a real downer, and in Europe where we do almost every port on our own, it would make us reconsider whether we would want to cruise at all. We are seriously debating what to do with our November cruise on Spirit. 

 

 

11 hours ago, cece50 said:

Until the US stops threatening to keep us out of our own country, we & the people we cruise with will wait it out. 

 

This part really made Chris worried. Until we finally had that negative test in hand on Saturday morning (before our Monday flight), she was quite wound up about the whole ordeal. We did NOT want to end up quarantined in a hotel in France, eating room service for a week or more.

 

So, totally understand not wanting to cruise under these circumstances. It's definitely a different experience - but in retrospect, after it all worked out for us, it was one that we were glad to be able to do. We ended up having a great time. YMMV.

 

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

 

Chris and I debated this for a while before deciding to go for it (we just did a 7d RT itinerary around Corsica, on Ponant). The masks were not a big deal (to us) but of course it would have been even more fun without that worry. Luckily, we were not restricted to bubble tours while in Corsica, and obviously a non-issue for our pre/post time in France as we were independent.

 

We vehemently agree with you that bubble tours would be a real downer, and in Europe where we do almost every port on our own, it would make us reconsider whether we would want to cruise at all. We are seriously debating what to do with our November cruise on Spirit. 

 

 

 

This part really made Chris worried. Until we finally had that negative test in hand on Saturday morning (before our Monday flight), she was quite wound up about the whole ordeal. We did NOT want to end up quarantined in a hotel in France, eating room service for a week or more.

 

So, totally understand not wanting to cruise under these circumstances. It's definitely a different experience - but in retrospect, after it all worked out for us, it was one that we were glad to be able to do. We ended up having a great time. YMMV.

 

We didn't want to be quarantined in a hotel in Germany, but we are!  We tested negative within 48 hours of arrival in Amsterdam to join the ship.  We joined the ship on a Wednesday. Masks and daily testing. My love tested positive Friday and we've been in purgatory ever since.  Neither of us is sick.

 

Testing at the hotel is done every 5 days.  He still tested positive and I did too.  Next test is Monday.

 

The food choices are limited and not to our taste.  The staff at the hotel have been wonderful.

 

We think that we may have been exposed when we had the "within 48 hour" pre departure test.

 

We love to cruise and were on the first Seabourn cruise in July from Athens that was wonderful and we're so glad that we did it. 

 

Safe cruising can be done.  Just watch out for where you have your pre departure testing done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, fudgbug said:

We didn't want to be quarantined in a hotel in Germany, but we are!  We tested negative within 48 hours of arrival in Amsterdam to join the ship.  We joined the ship on a Wednesday. Masks and daily testing. My love tested positive Friday and we've been in purgatory ever since.  Neither of us is sick.

 

Testing at the hotel is done every 5 days.  He still tested positive and I did too.  Next test is Monday.

 

The food choices are limited and not to our taste.  The staff at the hotel have been wonderful.

 

We think that we may have been exposed when we had the "within 48 hour" pre departure test.

 

We love to cruise and were on the first Seabourn cruise in July from Athens that was wonderful and we're so glad that we did it. 

 

Safe cruising can be done.  Just watch out for where you have your pre departure testing done.

So sorry this happened to you. May I ask a few questions? So, you 2 are in the room 24/7, no leaving for any reason? Are you insured?  How are you handling your flight home? Is everything just being put on a CC and you will figure out the rest after you get back home?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, fudgbug said:

We didn't want to be quarantined in a hotel in Germany, but we are!  We tested negative within 48 hours of arrival in Amsterdam to join the ship.  We joined the ship on a Wednesday. Masks and daily testing. My love tested positive Friday and we've been in purgatory ever since.  Neither of us is sick.

 

Testing at the hotel is done every 5 days.  He still tested positive and I did too.  Next test is Monday.

 

The food choices are limited and not to our taste.  The staff at the hotel have been wonderful.

 

We think that we may have been exposed when we had the "within 48 hour" pre departure test.

 

We love to cruise and were on the first Seabourn cruise in July from Athens that was wonderful and we're so glad that we did it. 

 

Safe cruising can be done.  Just watch out for where you have your pre departure testing done.

 So sorry to hear that. I hope you don’t mind a couple of questions. I can see you are fully vaccinated, have you been tested with PCR tests?

Edited by Silver Spectre
read previous posts
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Lois R said:

So sorry this happened to you. May I ask a few questions? So, you 2 are in the room 24/7, no leaving for any reason? Are you insured?  How are you handling your flight home? Is everything just being put on a CC and you will figure out the rest after you get back home?

We are confined to our room 24/7 though we  are on the first floor and a door opens to the outside. We are permitted to go outside to  walk around or sit in some chairs. 

 

The ship had us transported to the hotel where they have on site PCR and antigen testing.  As to who is pay right now,  we have no clue. We do not have trip insurance and in any case this cruise was a roll over from a trip booked in 2019 that didn't have Covid coverage.

 

We always book our own flights and will cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

Today is day 7 of quarantine. 

 

The menu at the hotel is limited and not to our liking. The hotel has given us a menu where we can "order in" that gives us more choice.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

 So sorry to hear that. I hope you don’t mind a couple of questions. I can see you are fully vaccinated, have you been tested with PCR tests?

Yes, we have had many PCR tests. I'm 81 and my love is 74.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really glad you are not sick fudgbug. Hopefully they will let you out soon.

 

We have just returned from 2 weeks holiday in Cornwall. Was very nice, and of course, no tests or quarantine. It is interesting in the UK that about 25% of people have ditched masks since they became voluntary. Very few people seem to worry about this.

 

We are still down for the SS Alaska ocean cruise in July 2022, and a Tauck Christmas Market Rhine cruise in November 2022. I really hope we don't have your daily testing then, fugbug.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's my nightmare. Not getting Covid but testing positive because so many of these PCR tests are set to such high levels you get way more positives than are necessary for the safety of all.

 

My prayers are with you, Chris and all who are choosing to cruise right now.

 

 We are booked this November after we cancelled Alaska last summer and SS just had to cancel  our 48 day dream cruise.

 

We want to cruise for our pleasure and to support Silversea which we love.

We're looking forward to adding to our wonderful Silversea circle of life long friends.

 

Elaine 😎

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, fudgbug said:

We didn't want to be quarantined in a hotel in Germany, but we are!  We tested negative within 48 hours of arrival in Amsterdam to join the ship.  We joined the ship on a Wednesday. Masks and daily testing. My love tested positive Friday and we've been in purgatory ever since.  Neither of us is sick.

 

Testing at the hotel is done every 5 days.  He still tested positive and I did too.  Next test is Monday.

 

The food choices are limited and not to our taste.  The staff at the hotel have been wonderful.

 

We think that we may have been exposed when we had the "within 48 hour" pre departure test.

 

We love to cruise and were on the first Seabourn cruise in July from Athens that was wonderful and we're so glad that we did it. 

 

Safe cruising can be done.  Just watch out for where you have your pre departure testing done.

I've flown once since Nov 2019 ( during the pandemic) and was shocked at the people maskless sitting at bars/resturants at the airport.  Shoulder to shoulder, back to back, barstool to barstool. Also, if anyone is following the science of aerosols in bathrooms, I suspect people pull their masks down for relief while in the stall, and that's another oportunity to breathe in the virus. I put my mask on when I exited the parking garage at my departure airport, and didn't remove it til I got to my  destination. Nothing to eat or drink.  

We have an Antarctic cruise this November that is still a go.  It's going to be tough, but this is our plan for the flights as well.  Someone suggested straws to slip under bottom of mask to sip water.

This is a very expensive bucket list trip that we will do everything in our power to not test positive.  Even if it means these drastic mask-on measures. It's all risk tolerance.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, docruth said:

Hi Terry, Nice to see you back!   All of the Covid developments aside, Delta, Mu, Iota, etc, I’ve been thinking a lot about how travelers might change their habits in these times.  I think the land destinations that have good tourist infrastructure (think nice accommodations, good food and fun activities), and a high degree of safety, both heath and actual physical security will take a lot of the business from the lines. The ship may no longer be the destination.   Why? Folks are willing to tolerate all this nonsense with testing, and all the other boarding procedures, due to Covid for now, but not forever. It’s not fun to run around testing or checking off boxes, just so you can get some rest and relaxation.   Cheers, Doc Ruth

 

So super sorry to hear about the serious challenge facing NH's fudgbug.  WOW!!  What a saga and drama.  And, who pays for all of these added costs, etc?  This whole "mystery meat" question for pre-cruise and post- testing adds a serious layer of uncertainty.  How much added worry is too, too much????

 

Appreciate ALL of these various great comments and follow-ups, including from Doc Ruth as summarized above..  

 

As if we as potential cruisers do not have enough now to question and doubt, next is a new issue to not know how to manage and consider.  From the Washington Post this morning, they had this headline: “Changes in booster shot guidance leads to confusion, chaos for doctors and the vaccinated” with these highlights: “Confusion over boosters, which has been brewing for months, heightened over the past week as government regulators and advisers met to hash out the pros and cons of administering third doses.  Hours of meetings culminated in a showdown Thursday: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory group narrowed the Food and Drug Administration’s recommendation for who should get a third Pfizer shot, only to be overruled in a late-night announcement by the CDC director: Along with Americans 65 and older, nursing home residents and people ages 50 to 64 with underlying medical conditions, who the advisory panel had suggested should get shots, Rochelle Walensky added the people in high-risk jobs.  'It’s a communications crisis,' said Robert Murphy, executive director of the Institute for Global Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who said he received worried calls Thursday evening from health-care workers who thought they would not be eligible for the shots, followed by messages Friday from colleagues wondering when and where to get them.

 

When, if and how will the cruise lines manage and mandate booster shots??  Both my wife and me had our second Moderna shots in late February.  YES, glad that we did Moderna as it seems better than Pfizer and J&J.  Last month, my wife, who has some immune issues, got her third Moderna shot.  I'll have to wait.  Lots of "moving parts" with these various issues as to what is best and most needed.  And, when!!

 

Full story at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/09/25/covid-vaccine-booster-confusion/

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Kotor/Montenegro:  Exciting visual samples, tips, details, etc., for this scenic, historic location. Over 48,570 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439193

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So sorry you are going through this @fudgbug  It's great that you are not feeling sick, but a setback like this would be difficult to handle. Your equanimity is impressive!

 

This post got me thinking about what Silversea would do in this situation so I dug up this policy:

 

Denial of Embarkation or Reboarding; Quarantine and/or Disembarkation

  • If you, your family members, travelling companions or other close contacts are denied embarkation or reboarding, or quarantined or disembarked during the voyage, due to a positive COVID-19 test or being suspected of having COVID-19, you and they are entitled to a refund, or an optional FCC, for the cruise fare paid to Silversea in the event of denial at embarkation, or a pro-rated refund or pro-rated FCC for the unused portion of your cruise fare in all other cases.
     
  • If you test positive for COVID-19 during the voyage, Silversea will:
    • cover the cost of necessary COVID-19 related medical treatment onboard the ship;
    • coordinate and cover the costs of any required land-based quarantine for you and members of your Travelling Party; and
    • coordinate and cover the costs of travel arrangements to get you and members of your Travelling Party back home.

      We will also provide the same assistance to identified close contacts if they are required to quarantine onboard or are disembarked or denied re-boarding due to have been in close contact to a guest who tests positive for COVID-19.

       
  • If a guest who purchased flights through Silversea is denied boarding at embarkation or reboarding, or is disembarked during the voyage due to a positive COVID-19 test or being suspected of having COVID-19, Silversea will coordinate the travel arrangements, and cover the airline change fees and any difference in the airfare for the same class of service, necessary to fly the guest back to the city of their original flight departure point. If such a guest did not purchase flights through Silversea, the cruise line will assist with coordinating travel arrangements necessary to get the guest back home but will not be responsible for any associated costs.

 

IMO, this generous policy makes any recent fare increases more than worth it. I hope they extend the policy to cover my cruise next May.

 

Edited by FauxNom
  • Like 3
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, FauxNom said:

So sorry you are going through this @fudgbug  It's great that you are not feeling sick, but a setback like this would be difficult to handle. Your equanimity is impressive!

 

This post got me thinking about what Silversea would do in this situation so I dug up this policy:

 

Denial of Embarkation or Reboarding; Quarantine and/or Disembarkation

  • If you, your family members, travelling companions or other close contacts are denied embarkation or reboarding, or quarantined or disembarked during the voyage, due to a positive COVID-19 test or being suspected of having COVID-19, you and they are entitled to a refund, or an optional FCC, for the cruise fare paid to Silversea in the event of denial at embarkation, or a pro-rated refund or pro-rated FCC for the unused portion of your cruise fare in all other cases.
     
  • If you test positive for COVID-19 during the voyage, Silversea will:
    • cover the cost of necessary COVID-19 related medical treatment onboard the ship;
    • coordinate and cover the costs of any required land-based quarantine for you and members of your Travelling Party; and
    • coordinate and cover the costs of travel arrangements to get you and members of your Travelling Party back home.

      We will also provide the same assistance to identified close contacts if they are required to quarantine onboard or are disembarked or denied re-boarding due to have been in close contact to a guest who tests positive for COVID-19.

       
  • If a guest who purchased flights through Silversea is denied boarding at embarkation or reboarding, or is disembarked during the voyage due to a positive COVID-19 test or being suspected of having COVID-19, Silversea will coordinate the travel arrangements, and cover the airline change fees and any difference in the airfare for the same class of service, necessary to fly the guest back to the city of their original flight departure point. If such a guest did not purchase flights through Silversea, the cruise line will assist with coordinating travel arrangements necessary to get the guest back home but will not be responsible for any associated costs.

 

IMO, this generous policy makes any recent fare increases more than worth it. I hope they extend the policy to cover my cruise next May.

 

Thanks for posting! Fudgbug ( asymptomatic, and just in a hotel and not a hospital) can report back as to how this actually works out in the end.

 

But note that if people actually get  *sick* from Covid on a cruise ( per current stats, this will thankfully be a tiny minority, as these are already vaxed and healthier  people),  they will still want insurance for shoreside hospitalization costs and then medical evacuation from hospital overseas to hospital back home (such as with Medjet, for the latter).    I would be sure and get  a policy that clearly  includes cruise ship related  Covid hospitalization and evac.
 

It is encouraging to see SS clarify this part of the Covid quarantine risk, ( following the lead of Celebrity),  and I hope it will be honored without a lot of ifs, ands or buts and exceptions in the few cases it comes up and people make real claims. Ultimately, this ( plus all the testing, often expedited pre-cruise for peace of mind but  at higher prices) will further add to cruising costs for pax who are on the  fence  to factor in.  And of course,  if lines cannot get enough people signed up  to over a moderate time break even when sailing, they will have to raise prices further or cut back on other expensive things, like staffing and "luxury" foods, and then they will start  a negative feedback loop.

 

DH and I were ready to press "yes" to our suite offer for SS to Antarctica this season ( already moved from Argentina to Chile) until we saw the actual draft contract. It  gives SS broad-based authority to change the date, time, place of embarkation and disembarkation, among other open-ended things beyond quarantine, such as potential for even more restrictive masking policies than now, e.g.,  even if we would be outside and even if socially distanced, which for DH is a non-starter and for me is close to it. Plus we would be in the mandatory fellow cruiser  "bubble" ( no pre or post cruise local independent touring option , just a shuttle from plane to hotel to plane to ship, and back  -- it's a long way to travel without exploring the areas we pass through pre and post).
 For such an expensive distant trip, where the whole point of the trip is to explore the views outside the suite, and also off the ship,  rather than be on board for the "ship experience" ,  we will defer to next year.  We hope things  will get better instead of worse, but we are resigned to the reality it may get worse, and Antarctica will never happen for us.
 

Doc Ruth, we will meanwhile stick with shorter, cheaper, closer cruises, where if policies drastically change (  be it a requirement for perpetual masking for not just crew but also pax, for whatever excellent justification, or other practices  unacceptable  to us) we could just bail mid-cruise, with a smaller overall loss. We are also exploring more land luxury trips easily available to us, but less so to people who do not live near an ocean or an easily accessible nice area.

 

One view is that as with " temporary" airline rules that became permanent, rules like masking when flying will also become permanent.  The same could be for cruising.

 

https://onemileatatime.com/will-masks-be-required-on-airplanes-forever/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Catlover54
Clarity
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, cece50 said:

Until the US stops threatening to keep us out of our own country, we & the people we cruise with will wait it out.

I prefer to think of it as our country having policies in place to protect us and our fellow citizens.  My husband and I, both in our 70s, just returned from a Crystal cruise that we thoroughly enjoyed.  All passengers and all crew were vaccinated.  We are scheduled for 2 more Crystal cruises in the next few months with fully vaccinated passengers and crew, and another Silversea cruise in the near future (Silversea had been our cruise line of choice for many years).  I will double-check Silversea's vaccination requirements prior to the actual sailing. If more people in the US would get vaccinated, we would all be able to get back to something resembling normalcy more quickly.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Did you find it all on the SS website?

You're welcome! Yes, it's under COVID19 Protections: https://www.silversea.com/lp-refund-and-cancellation-policy-covid-19.html

 

Great points @Catlover54. The posted policy goes through April 2022; I'll be eager to see if it gets extended in some form or if we enter a more aggressive "cruise at your own risk" situation. I'm booking cruises quite happily now because I have FCC from a cruise that ended abruptly because of an outbreak. I'd sure be scrutinizing the fine print if substantial cash were involved!

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To my knowledge there has only been one denied boarding (reported by Lois R on her Moon cruise) and to date no one has tested positive and been removed from a Silversea cruise. Both the above may be down to the less than rigorous application of the LFtests (the opinion of a medically qualified intensivist who has undertaken dozens of PCR tests). It would be interesting to see how SS handled the above case if anyone can find out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...