Barbados summer cruises 2021

[italyforme]

14 hours ago, cruisr said:

How often are passengers tested onboard?  Does each destination that the Odyssey visits require a negative test.

 

 

We were tested yesterday for the first time on the cruise and this was to prepare for disembarkations in Barbados.  Everyone is tested even if continuing on.  It was very easy and quick.  Everyone reported to the theater between 10 and 11 am. There have been no other tests required for ports on this week’s itinerary, not sure if that will be any different next week.

[italyforme]

And, just an indication of how fluid things are we’ve just been informed that there will be additional testing on this coming Tuesday.  Also the ship has instituted a mask requirement for passengers when indoors.  Last week no passengers were required to wear masks although the crew members always wear one.  Best to stay flexible!

 

[Travels with Lisa]

34 minutes ago, italyforme said:

And, just an indication of how fluid things are we’ve just been informed that there will be additional testing on this coming Tuesday.  Also the ship has instituted a mask requirement for passengers when indoors.  Last week no passengers were required to wear masks although the crew members always wear one.  Best to stay flexible!

 

That was a quick change!  Are the cloth masks acceptable or have they moved onto N95s?  Thanks for keeping us updated.

[cruisr]

Did someone test positive?

[PAULINELESLEY]

Can someone please confirm that we can only get off the ship on organised trips, we like to get off and walk for a while!

[sfvoyage]

2 hours ago, cruisr said:

Did someone test positive?

A friend on board reported that one passenger tested positive yesterday and left today with their close contacts.

 

This was bound to happen.  Seabourn should have had a mask mandate from Day One, even a surgical mask may have mitigated the risk enough. Now they have had to pivot from no mask to N95 mask.

[Travels with Lisa]

Do you know where they got off and how many people tested positive?

thanks

[italyforme]

58 minutes ago, PAULINELESLEY said:

Can someone please confirm that we can only get off the ship on organised trips, we like to get off and walk for a while!

We are not able to go off the ship unless we are on a Seabourne excursion.  The only exceptions seem to be ports where Seabourne has arranged a private beach experience such as at Carambola beach.  We could walk a couple of blocks on Dominica but the area was all cordoned off for our visit.

[italyforme]

46 minutes ago, sfvoyage said:

A friend on board reported that one passenger tested positive yesterday and left today with their close contacts.

 

This was bound to happen.  Seabourn should have had a mask mandate from Day One, even a surgical mask may have mitigated the risk enough. Now they have had to pivot from no mask to N95 mask.

 

We are wearing regular two layer masks when indoors or where we can’t socially distance, N95 masks are not required.  Yesterday was the normal testing day for disembarkation; can’t verify that there was a positive test result but some people have said they think there was one.

[sfvoyage]

13 hours ago, italyforme said:

 

We are wearing regular two layer masks when indoors or where we can’t socially distance, N95 masks are not required.

That's good.  Apparently N95 masks are required on the Ovation, although that could change if and when everyone tests negative for x days and on y occasions. I wonder what the protocol is for Seabourn?  And if they have one, they should communicate to the guests, or perhaps it's by trial and error.

 

We are getting bits and pieces of information from here and there... really impossible to make any conclusion or informed decision about the future and desirability of cruising at the moment.

[Hlitner]

Boarded yesterday after a 30 minute check-in/testing process.  We are supposed to wear masks when moving about in public areas and cloth masks are fine (we were given the usual gray SB cloth masks).  No other onboard restrictions and the mask mandate is lightly enforced.  We had dinner last evening with the Assistant CD and one of the lovely cast singers.  It was a delightful hosted table which bodes well for the next two weeks.

 

Hank

[cruiseej]

2 hours ago, sfvoyage said:

I wonder what the protocol is for Seabourn?  And if they have one, they should communicate to the guests, or perhaps it's by trial and error.

 

They spent many months planning for the return to cruising in the Covid era, and I'm certain they have a detailed set of protocols. The N95 masks which appeared suddenly after the outbreak on the Ovation were a piece of such a protocol. I'm also pretty certain they're not going to publicize their operations plan. There are many different contingencies -- what if one passenger tests positive? what if 2-3? 4-7? more? what about crew members? where is the nearest major hospital? what does the local government require? etc., etc. -- and the protocols probably fill an entire manual... and they're not going to publish such a document. 

[sfvoyage]

22 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

They spent many months planning for the return to cruising in the Covid era, and I'm certain they have a detailed set of protocols. The N95 masks which appeared suddenly after the outbreak on the Ovation were a piece of such a protocol. I'm also pretty certain they're not going to publicize their operations plan. There are many different contingencies -- what if one passenger tests positive? what if 2-3? 4-7? more? what about crew members? where is the nearest major hospital? what does the local government require? etc., etc. -- and the protocols probably fill an entire manual... and they're not going to publish such a document. 

Yes, of course, that goes without saying.  However, some general guidelines may be helpful.  Also, I can appreciate that nobody knows exactly what to do - this is a brand new pandemic with fast changing and mutating abilities, and the best most nations and health authorities can do is to adapt and pivot as best as possible.

 

Having said that, I still think it was a mistake for Seabourn not to have had a mask mandate until now.  Most other cruise lines have had one since they restarted a few months ago, and most have been doing daily temperature checks (utility is questionable) and frequent testing (more useful).

 

(As much as I didn't rate my recent first Silversea cruise highly, I appreciated their mask mandate on board and felt more safe.)

Edited October 11, 2021 by sfvoyage

[Hlitner]

This week on the Odyssey we have 135 passengers and about 350 crew.  Amazing!  We have been told that the numbers are increasing and they expect well over 350 in November.  
 

Hank

[MikeD1000]

Can you confirm that you didn't need another CPR before leaving Sandals?  We are also arriving 4 days ahead.

Mike

[GrandCru]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This week on the Odyssey we have 135 passengers and about 350 crew.  Amazing!  We have been told that the numbers are increasing and they expect well over 350 in November.  
 

Hank

Hi Hank,

 

We will be boarding next week.  We are nervous about the 3 tests required before we can board  ( because we are arriving Saturday to Barbados ) but feeling confident.  Do you think the passenger number will remain the same for next week too?

Look forward to seeing you and being on the Odyssey!

See you soon!

[Hlitner]

47 minutes ago, GrandCru said:

Hi Hank,

 

We will be boarding next week.  We are nervous about the 3 tests required before we can board  ( because we are arriving Saturday to Barbados ) but feeling confident.  Do you think the passenger number will remain the same for next week too?

Look forward to seeing you and being on the Odyssey!

See you soon!

We do not have the official number for next week but have been led to believe it will be something similar to this week.  

 

Hank

[cruisr]

Do people wear contact bracelets?  I have done 2 incredible Crystal cruises, both in Penthouses, and felt incredibly safe.  No mask mandates and maybe 2% of guests wearing masks,  We were free to wander around on our own once we docked, on both cruises.  

 

We have a Caribbean cruise booked with Seabourn but if I cannot wander around the islands by myself I will probably cancel.  Will probably book Crystal again.

[marazul]

3 hours ago, cruisr said:

We have a Caribbean cruise booked with Seabourn but if I cannot wander around the islands by myself I will probably cancel.  Will probably book Crystal again.

The mandates are from the local governments,  not from SB. All cruiselines visiting those ports are subject to the same rules.

Edited October 12, 2021 by marazul

[cruiseej]

I'd note that all the Seabourn cruises so far have been roundtrips from/to Barbados, so Silversea is adhering to rules dictated by Barbados about keeping passengers in a bubble, irrespective of what might be allowed in the countries visited.  As we get into the winter season, there are cruises starting from different countries, so it's not clear what the rules will be. Will a cruise departing from Philipsburg, St. Maarten and ending in Barbados be required to adhere to the bubble travel rule in all ports? I don't think we know yet. I don't know if even Seabourn knows yet. (If anyone has seen anything definitive about this from Seabourn, please share.)

 

And whatever is known today may be out of date by next week. If independent travel in ports is something you consider a must, or no masks on the ship is something you consider a must, then this probably isn't the time to be traveling, because these things are subject to change on very short notice. (We were recently on a Barbados cruise where there was no mask wearing on board; the following week, the rules changed.)

[SDuckers]

30 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

I'd note that all the Seabourn cruises so far have been roundtrips from/to Barbados, so Silversea is adhering to rules dictated by Barbados about keeping passengers in a bubble, irrespective of what might be allowed in the countries visited.  As we get into the winter season, there are cruises starting from different countries, so it's not clear what the rules will be. Will a cruise departing from Philipsburg, St. Maarten and ending in Barbados be required to adhere to the bubble travel rule in all ports? I don't think we know yet. I don't know if even Seabourn knows yet. (If anyone has seen anything definitive about this from Seabourn, please share.)

 

And whatever is known today may be out of date by next week. If independent travel in ports is something you consider a must, or no masks on the ship is something you consider a must, then this probably isn't the time to be traveling, because these things are subject to change on very short notice. (We were recently on a Barbados cruise where there was no mask wearing on board; the following week, the rules changed.)

So true, and leading up to our cruise, the ports of call changed a number of times, including the additional "marina day" instead of BVI.  I think if you want to cruise right now, you should be wanting to do it for the luxury of the cruise itself.  If actually visiting the ports of call is important to you, probablyl best to wait a bit longer.

 

Having said that, we are booked on an Alaskan cruise on Seabourn next September, so I sure hope things have loosened up some by then!

[Hlitner]

On 10/11/2021 at 2:42 PM, MikeD1000 said:

Can you confirm that you didn't need another CPR before leaving Sandals?  We are also arriving 4 days ahead.

Mike

At Sandals we did get a letter asking us to make an appointment for a pre departure test.  We simply ignored that letter and never got another test.  When we checked out we simply ask them to get us a taxi which cost $27 from Sandals to the cruise port.  As part of the cruise check in process we met the ships doctor who personally interviewed all the newly embarking passengers while still in the terminal.  He did ask to see our test results we got when we arrived at Sandals (on our phones) before we took our Seabourn antigen test at the port.  The doctor is from South Africa and quite charming.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

Yesterday the Odyssey actually did dock at Roadtown, Tortola BVI, after months of not being able to visit this port.  We were the first cruise ship to visit the island in over 18 months and the islanders we met (on our excursion) were pleased.  As long as the BVI  an keep COVID under control the BVIs will be part of these voyages.

 

Hank

[GrandCru]

This is great news Hank.  I was wondering and confused since everyone has been saying Seabourn has not been stopping at the BVIs all along.  Yet, Seabourn is still offering excursions for the Tortola stop.  That had to be crazy to be the first ship to stop in 18 months.  It sounds like we will be able to go over to Virgin Gorda after all.

We passed our first of three Covid tests, just two more to go!  See you Sunday. 😁

 

Kim

[DWhit]

On 10/14/2021 at 6:29 AM, Hlitner said:

Yesterday the Odyssey actually did dock at Roadtown, Tortola BVI, after months of not being able to visit this port.  We were the first cruise ship to visit the island in over 18 months and the islanders we met (on our excursion) were pleased.  As long as the BVI  an keep COVID under control the BVIs will be part of these voyages.

 

Hank

Were you required to take a ship excursion?

Edited October 16, 2021 by DWhit