If you were on a Covid affected cruise, would you cruise again?

[vegasdriven]

Just wondering how people who were on one of the affected cruises early on would feel about cruising going forward?

[Cruise Raider]

A friend of mine was on the Grand Princess when it was cut short and then the ship finally docked in Oakland and then passengers were quarantined for two weeks out at Travis AF Base.  I asked her if she would ever cruise again and she said that she probably would.  

Personally, I don't think the experience would discourage me from cruising again in the future but that's easy for me to say since I wasn't quarantined.  I guess it may all depend upon what room type I had.  If inside, oh boy ... I'd never hear the end of it from my DH.  An OV would be slightly better but only a balcony or better would be sufficient for DH.  If he can't get out into the fresh air, I think that would be the end cruising for him.  

[AllureOfVacation]

Yes! 
 

We were on the HAL Westerdam cruise that ended in Cambodia after days without a place to disembark. Little did we know about the future at that point.

 

We have two cruises booked. But we will only go with vaccinations

Edited April 5, 2021 by AllureOfVacation

[WAussieSFO]

We were on the Grand Princess in an obstructed oceanview and can't wait for cruising to start. We will book a balcony going forward, although, if a move-down offer to an obstructed oceanview was on the cards we may take it, just like we did in February last year.

[kamelia]

Absolutely!  In fact, I am right now expecting confirmation of my next booking on a Princess cruise for later this year - if it's a go, I'm going.  I was on the Sun Princess circumnavigating the Indian Ocean Jan-Mar 2020, and although ours was not an infected cruise, we were certainly affected by events as they were unfolding.  I have nothing but the utmost admiration for Princess staff and crew who were doing the very best they could without the benefit of either hindsight or a crystal ball, and I will happily and confidently sail with them again!

[nbsjcruiser]

Probably as long as I or someone else in my party didn't get deathly sick or worse. I watched "The Last Cruise" on HBO last night and what struck me was how the Diamond Princess was a missed opportunity for countries around the world. Had they been really watching they would have learned so much about how the virus was replicating and perhaps may have learned a little sooner how to deal with it. Instead the cruise industry got another black eye and the "I told you so" contingent started pointing fingers.

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

what struck me was how the Diamond Princess was a missed opportunity for countries around the world. Had they been really watching they would have learned so much about how the virus was replicating and perhaps may have learned a little sooner how to deal with it

like Australia and the Ruby Princess ?

[jondfk]

1 hour ago, vegasdriven said:

Just wondering how people who were on one of the affected cruises early on would feel about cruising going forward?

 

I was (Grand / Travis) and I will.  Not only that, I'll cruise on Princess and even Grand again, in January assuming things kick off by then.  

 

It's not that we don't fault Princess for any part of our disaster (we do, there were many mistakes made) but we do so enjoy cruising that we're willing to go again.  

 

We will of course make adjustments like:  I don't thing we'll ever travel again leaving any meds at home, and I think we will for a long time hoard a few provisions immediately upon boarding, we'll also have a plan in place for keeping the house going "what if" - all to a far greater extent than we ever did before.

 

But we will cruise again and in fact are eager to do so.

[jondfk]

Oh, I should add that one thing we won't do is book a non balcony cabin regardless how good the deal is.  We've loved a variety of OB and WS cabins in the past, but going forward, we wouldn't do it.  Those 6 days with zero fresh air were some of the most challenging aspects of our quarantine. 

[voljeep]

3 minutes ago, jondfk said:

Oh, I should add that one thing we won't do is book a non balcony cabin regardless how good the deal is.  We've loved a variety of OB and WS cabins in the past, but going forward, we wouldn't do it.  Those 6 days with zero fresh air were some of the most challenging aspects of our quarantine. 

agree with all - balcony or above for us now, and pre-'rona we had no problem booking an inside aft cabin, esp on the grand class  ships with the adult aft pool and bar area.

 

we also tend to 'hoard' ... mainly beers and waters, but may try now to have some fruit at least

[Barry ATL]

1 hour ago, jondfk said:

We will of course make adjustments like:  I don't thing we'll ever travel again leaving any meds at home, and I think we will for a long time hoard a few provisions immediately upon boarding, we'll also have a plan in place for keeping the house going "what if" - all to a far greater extent than we ever did before.

 

What items would you "hunt and gather" on the first day?  Also, how long of a supply of meds would you take?  

[vegasdriven]

Interesting replies. Glad to hear people feeling positive about cruising. Also, picking up a few good tips from you all.

[jondfk]

3 hours ago, Barry ATL said:

What items would you "hunt and gather" on the first day?  Also, how long of a supply of meds would you take?  

I would certainly pick up 4 or 5 cups of yogurt for the fridge.  Likewise, 5 or 6 cans of soft drink (or beer or the like) that I'd drink over the course of the cruise anyway but might like to have easy access to.  Couldn't hurt to put a ham sandwich in a ziplock bag in the fridge.  I never would have done or even thought of any of these things before, but days on end confined to the cabin with nothing but what they think to deliver (or not) has probably permanently changed my thinking.

 

As for meds, the smartest thing we did was tell DW to "put all the bottles in the suitcase", I on the other hand took my pill caddy with precisely 18 days of meds which seemed fine for our 15 days cruise.  19 days later when we finally arrived at Travis my stupidity was clear.  What good were those half full bottles doing me back at home?  Stupid!  And if you imagine that Princess did anything whatsoever to get refills, or even prioritized drug delivery at Travis - I assure you you're wrong.

[carefreebee]

3 hours ago, Barry ATL said:

What items would you "hunt and gather" on the first day?  Also, how long of a supply of meds would you take?  

Even though this is slightly off topic I'll list what we have for an emergency situation. Ever since the Carnival Triumph was stuck out at sea we have backed a "grab bag" filled with the items we may need in an emergency. We pack: an extra 2+ weeks medications, copies of our passports & photo IDs, family contact info, a solar phone charger & extra charging sticks, a hand crank radio, headlamps, handheld torches, a little battery lantern & tea lights, a few extra batteries, dollar store rain ponchos, small umbrella, extra socks, first aid kit, packaged nuts & dried fruits, packaged peanut butter crackers, small juice boxes, sun hats (or winter hats & gloves), sun screen & SPF shirts, small amount of cash and a hand towel. For our last cruise I added N95 masks, sterile gloves, and disinfectant wipes. All this goes into a nylon backpack which surprisingly is not too heavy or a burden to carry. We store it with the life jackets.

 

We were on the Sky princess in the Western Caribbean when Princess ceased operations. I had read the announcement on social media early in the morning (before the Captain's announcement to return to our cabins to listen to a message from Jan Swartz), that all ships were to return to port. I had also been following the Diamond Princess situation and the other ships' difficulty seeking safe harbor. We were a little concerned the Sky Princess would be caught up in the possibility the port would close, even though our ship had ZERO illness. We went to the Horizon Court and gathered a few apples & oranges, yogurts and such, just in case we were denied entry to Port Everglades.  I don't know if this was widely reported but the Sky Princess had to make a special stop in Dominica Republic to pick up Covid-19 tests. The Captain said "authorities" requested a sampling of crew to verify zero Covid-19 infections.  We met a pilot boat for a sail-by to receive the tests. We must have passed as the passengers were hustled off the ship early the next morning and were whisked away to an airport in turmoil.  I was very glad we had masks & sanitizing wipes hanging out at the airport with 30,000+ cruise passengers trying to leave Florida. 

 

We plan to return to the Sky Princess in December 2021 and have high hopes the cruise industry will succeed in getting back to sea. This is a huge industry and I just can't see these requirements the CDC has laid out lasting once the vaccines change the infection spread.

[khoffman]

 Jondfk,

Meds are my big concern. What did you do?  Cut pills get a script when you landed. I use a pill caddy also. I take a couple days extra but not a weeks worth. What would be a good rule of thumb. 

 

Kirk

[BigLakeGrandma]

We were on the Grand Princess, didn’t get off the ship until 4 days after docking in Oakland and were sent to Miramar Marine base near San Diego to quarantine   I still have anxiety when revisiting this cruise.

 

Still on the fence as to whether we will cruise again.  Before we would consider cruising again, we need to see what the new normal will be. At a minimum, we will not cruise if masks and ship only excursions are required.  If we decide to cruise we will try a short 7 day Caribbean cruise using the large amount of FCC we were given to see how it goes and only after there have been many many many months of successful cruising completed.  

[casofilia]

We were on the NCL Spirit from Dubai to Cape Town and while there was no Covid on board our cruise was badly affected by it and there was nearly 6 months sorting out all the problems.  We are looking forward to 12 cruises we have booked.

[BRANDEE]

 I was on the Ruby in Australia last March.  The cruise was cut short and we came home early.  Hubby came down with a bad case of covid the next morning. High temperature (103) for 10 days followed by chest congestion for two weeks.  I got sick ten days after we got home. 

Yes ,we will both cruise again, but only if everyone who can, gets vaccinated.  I can honestly say that in 11 days on the cruise we never saw a sick person..so you have no idea who will get you sick!! I still say it spread through the ventilation system..good way to spread anything.

We are booked for 2022 for a 20 day cruise.

 

@khoffman

Regarding meds..we always take at least one week extra.(On a long vacation ,30 days + , we take a list of all prescriptions with doctors signature)  Before we left on the Ruby cruise..Princess told us to take two weeks worth.  (a sign?)  As an insulin dependent diabetic I always take two weeks extra insulin.  Just in case you want to stay an extra week before going home..lol   I understand that passengers stuck on the Diamond in Japan had their meds filled by ship/gov't doctor if they ran out. We always keep a list of meds names and amount in passport folder.

 

 

Edited April 6, 2021 by BRANDEE

[caribill]

13 hours ago, Barry ATL said:

 Also, how long of a supply of meds would you take?  

 

Princess says take at least two extra weeks worth.

 

"In the event of unexpected travel delays and emergencies, please remember to bring additional prescription medication for at least 2 weeks beyond the length of the cruise. Also bring a list of the names, strengths and dosages of all medications in case refills are required."

[Esprit]

Of course I would cruise again. Would never give it a second thought even if I was impacted myself from a previous experience.

Ski accidents have never deterred me from skiing every year!

[GonzoWCS]

20 hours ago, vegasdriven said:

Just wondering how people who were on one of the affected cruises early on would feel about cruising going forward?

Yes

[jondfk]

13 hours ago, khoffman said:

 Jondfk,

Meds are my big concern. What did you do?  Cut pills get a script when you landed. I use a pill caddy also. I take a couple days extra but not a weeks worth. What would be a good rule of thumb. 

 

Kirk

Once it became clear I would run out of meds I started making decisions.  

 

Things I took 2x per day, I started taking 1x (thinking some everyday was better than nothing for who knows how many days).

 

Things I take 1x per day, where I have a couple different meds at work, I started taking every other day on an alternate schedule.  Med 1 today, med 2 tomorrow, etc.

 

Everything else I split pills if that was possible, but that doesn't work for capsules or very small things that couldn't be cut with a butter knife.  Those simply ran out when they ran out.

 

Princess did precisely nothing.  They sent us forms to request med, twice onboard and twice at Travis.  I know exactly no one who received a single med from Princess.  All packages coming into Travis had to be screened by hand.  Medication boxes were mixed in with everyone's Amazon purchases.  The screening took days and really was only resolved once the local member of congress got involved to apply pressure.

 

[voljeep]

14 hours ago, carefreebee said:

, headlamps, handheld torches,

wut ????

[carefreebee]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

wut ????

flashlights

[K.T.B.]

I would.  Also, I'd make damn sure that I'm vaccinated and that the cruise requires it of all passengers and crew as well!